Ryloth: The Return of the Sith
by GerdavR
Summary: Badesh wakes up in a Zakuulan carbonite chamber and encounters members of the Alliance - the last group to resist Emperor Arcann's rule. Quinn and Vette are gone - can Badesh find his lovers again? Third part of my Ryloth series but works also as stand-alone. WARNING: KOFE spoilers and graphic description of violence. (Unbeated)
1. Frozen

Everything felt numb and cold. Slowly, very slowly an almost painful tingle spread through Badesh's chest. The tingle became a burning pain that made him grit his teeth. He felt the urge to made the uncomfortable feeling stop, he wanted to push away whoever was tormenting him. But something hindered his movement, Badesh tried to focus and used the Force to… he almost blacked out from sheer exertion. Suddenly he was released and Badesh fell hard on a metallic floor.

His limbs felt so heavy that he was barely able to lift an arm to wipe across his face. Something was wrong with his eyes, he couldn't see – everything was black but his eyes were wide open. Again Badesh tried to focus to reach out to the Force, but his usual firm grip on it was unprecise and it slipped away before he could manipulate it. His inability to do the most natural thing for a Sith … scared him. Fear and anxiety were no strangers to him, but this was different. Badesh felt helpless and this almost drove him mad with anger. As the hot fire of hate lit up in his chest he felt his strength return to him and he slowly began to perceive what was happening around him.

The biting sweet smell of burnt metal and cauterized flesh hung in the air. Combat noise was reaching his ears, he heard the steady humming of two lightsabers and blaster shots as well as muffled screams. He felt as if the whole world was wrapped in cotton, everything was damped and fuzzy. Even in his hazed mind Badesh realised that he had to act – he couldn't remember what had happened or where he was, but he knew he had to fight. It was more than that, he felt the familiar urge to fight!

Badesh staggered on his feet, blinking several times since his vision was still blurry. He channelled his hatred and felt the Force gather around him. The Force signatures became clear – two Force-users fighting about twenty opponents, not sentient beings but droids. He didn't recognize the Force-users and shortly debated with himself whether he should depose of them. In this moment two droids trained their blasters against him and began to shoot.

Badesh reached for his lightsaber, only to discover that it was missing from his belt. Quickly he deflected the blaster blots with the Force and jumped at the attacking droids. He grabbed their head and smacked them so hard together that the metal shattered. Badesh's mind was still hazy, but the rush of violence excited him and he took a deep breath. He was more focused than before and picked up a rifle from one of the droids and lunged at the next group.

Badesh used the rifle as club and hit one droid so hard that the weapon broke; with on gesture he hurled some droids towards the ceiling and clenched his fist – the chests of the droids were crushed before they even hit the floor.

With an angry growl he turned to the two Force-users who had dispatched of the remaining droids. With the droids defeated there were only the Force-users left standing. Badesh blinked a few times and his vision began slowly to return: His opponents were wearing robes and pointed their lightsabers at him. Their Force aura indicated that they were Jedi. One of them was considerably stronger than the other one. Had they imprisoned him? Before he could muse on their intentions any more he remembered something: Zakuul! The Empire had been at war with Zakuul! A fragment of a memory resurfaced in his mind: he saw Vette, Quinn and his apprentice Azhikdae running towards the _Fury_ , everywhere was fire…

"…do we do?" asked the weaker Force-user.

She had spoken so quietly that Badesh had missed the first part of the sentence.

"Let us pass, Sith," said the stronger Force-user. She was centred and calm.

"Where are my companions?" hissed Badesh.

"We don't have time for this," replied the Jedi, "there are Zakuulan reinforcements on their way here."

"I don't care! Where are Vette and Quinn? And where is my apprentice?" yelled Badesh and hurled one of the destroyed droids at the Jedi.

The stronger Jedi deflected the droid with her lightsaber but she was surprised by the smaller part of another droid that Badesh had thrown in the wind shadow of the first larger droid piece. It hit her in the chest and Badesh used her momentary distraction to jump at her. He pushed the other Jedi away and started to choke the woman with his bare hands.

"Tell me what you know or I will crush you, you Force-forsaken Jedi scum!" he screamed.

The Jedi struggled against his grip, but her movements got slower by the second. In this very moment Badesh's vision cleared further up and he saw that the Jedi was an olive skinned Miraluka with short dark hair. She was gasping for air and he felt an immense pleasure seeing the woman suffer; a grin spread on his lips.

"Stop! If you want to see you companions again you will stop!" yelled the other Jedi.

Badesh jerked his head in his direction: She was a slender human woman wearing white face-paint.

"Tell me now or your Jedi friend dies!" growled Badesh.

"No! You would kill her anyway, Sith! You will let her go and clear the path to our shuttle – as soon as we reach the hangar I will tell you about Vette and Quinn."

Badesh loosened his grip grudgingly and the Jedi gasped for air before getting on her feet, she gestured and her lightsaber, that she had lost before, returned to her hand. Badesh expected her to attack him and so he was surprised to see that she simply put the lightsabre in her brown robes and briskly walked out of the room. The other Jedi followed suit.

Badesh took a last look around; for the first time he took notice that the room held a carbonite freezing unit. So he had been thawed out – that would certainly explain his dizziness. He still couldn't remember what exactly had happened, but it seemed that the only course of action was to follow the Jedi.

Together they fought through at least four dozen droids and when they finally arrived at the hangar bay of whatever building they were in Badesh tensed up. This was the moment the Jedi would betray him – they had reached their shuttle and didn't need him anymore.

Badesh had slowed down so that he was behind the Jedi – he still wasn't on top of his game and felt nauseous. The human began to unlock the shuttle's door by entering some code on an interface next to it. The Miraluka turned around to face Badesh.

"There are Zakuulan Knights approaching, Sith," she said quietly.

"Are you referring to the Force-users closing in from north-west?" asked Badesh while clenching his hand to a fist. By the stars he missed his lightsaber!

"Yes – we have to distract them long enough to make our escape. My Padawan is starting the engines, so this task falls to us, Sith."

Badesh crossed his arms. "I held up my end of the bargain – I demand to know about my companions."

The Jedi smiled. Badesh growled – didn't she take him seriously?

"You know that you still have to escape from his prison, we can talk later."

Badesh scoffed. "Alright, but I need a lightsaber to fight effectively – I'm still suffering from the carbonite freeze."

The Padawan jerked her head up and stared at the Jedi. She nodded and the Padawan threw him her double-bladed lightsaber. Badesh caught it and ignited it. It felt good to wield a weapon again. Badesh didn't care that the blade was green instead of his usual red.

The Knights were close now. Badesh closed his eyes and remembered all the glorious battles he had fought – he almost could smell the metallic taste of blood.

"I will take care of them – just make sure that the little Jedi isn't disturbed," growled Badesh.

In this moment one of the heavy blast doors in the hangar slid open and six Force-users in golden armour appeared. The sight of them jogged another memory in Badesh's mind – he had fought the likes of them before. But the recollection was unclear and he pushed it aside; the fight at hand was more important right now.

With one gesture he Force-pulled the first of the Knights towards him and impaled him. The man was dead before he hit the floor. Excitement flowed through Badesh, his breath quickened due to the anticipation of the coming slaughter.

The Knights spread out and attacked Badesh from different directions, but he hurled the body of the first Knight against two of his attackers and cut of the legs from another one who had jumped at him. Warm blood hit Badesh's mask and he laughed as the Knight screamed in agony.

The other Knights regrouped and seemed hesitant to attack again.

"You have never fought Sith before, right?" Badesh jeered. "You don't know of the power of the Dark Side!" he yelled and used the Force to let one of the lightsabers of the Knights fly into his left hand.

Mere seconds later the fight was over, the Knights had been inexperienced and the lack of challenge dulled Badesh's pleasure as he killed them.

The sound of a starting engine made him turn his attention back to the Jedi and the shuttle. The Miraluka still stood next to the shuttle and seemed to wait for him. Badesh was surprised; they hadn't even attempted to back-stab him.

Badesh hurried back to the shuttle and boarded it together with the Jedi. When he reached the cockpit and sat down on the co-pilot seat the Padawan had already taken off. As soon as they left the hangar Badesh saw that they were in a city; skyscrapers and neon signs were lighting the nightly sky up.

"Master, man the turrets – we have fighters incoming," said the Padawan, she sounded calm, but a shrill undertone in her voice betrayed her anxiousness.

The Miraluka nodded and disappeared in the back. Moments later the fighters had reached them and opened fire on them. Badesh had to admit that the Human was a good pilot – but they still got hit a few times before they could outrun the pursuers. The Miraluka had also been a good gunner, it seemed like they had both experience with space combat.

The human finally activated the hyper-lane jump and leaned back. Badesh registered that she actually relaxed as she took a deep breath; it irked him. Did they think that they had tamed him? Perhaps he should… no, Quinn would advise him to stay calm to gain a tactical advantage. If they were stupid enough to underestimate him, he would strike in an unexpected moment.

Badesh rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace. He still had memory gaps, and also still felt weakened. He had to wait, to calm down. Vette would call it 'taking a break from being his usual sith-y self'.

"I assume you have a lot of questions, Sith," said the Miraluka as she entered the cockpit with a friendly smile.

Badesh stared at her. "Where are my companions?"

"You surprise me, Sith. I assumed that you wanted to know how we happened to free you from your carbonite prison…"

Badesh crossed his arms and remained silent.

"Allow me to introduce myself: I'm the Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order, Jetiet. And this," she gestured to the Human, "is Nadia, my Padawan." She waited for a moment before she continued. "Please state your name."

"Darth Tenebra," growled Badesh.

To his satisfaction both their Force signatures spiked, his name had startled them. He decided to take the initiative.

"I see – it wasn't your intention to free me. You were looking for someone else… someone important enough to risk your lives."

Jetiet kept her warm smile. "You are correct, Darth Tenebra. Indeed we are surprised to see you among the living. It was assumed that you died together with Darth Marr during the last outer rim battle."

Hearing Marr's name triggered another memory inside Badesh's mind: They were both standing in front of the Eternal Throne. Zakuul Knights surrounded them as they were led to Emperor Arcann.

"We almost managed to kill Arcann," said Badesh forcefully, "after the space battle we were brought before him – he wanted to taunt us, but Marr and I broke free. We killed the knights and then we engaged Arcann. He was lucky that his sister Vaylin stepped in before we impaled him. She killed Marr and then… nothing."

"Nothing?" asked Nadia, she had a quizzical expression on her face.

"I assume they captured me," replied Badesh hotly, anger boiling up in his chest. They kept him as a trophy! Him! One of the most powerful Sith in the galaxy! Like a plaything! His fury faded as he remembered something different: How he had ordered Azhikdae, Vette and Quinn to flee with the _Fury_ when it became clear that the battle was lost.

"I have endured your questions and held up my end of your bargain – went even beyond it – and I demand that you tell me where my companions are!" he growled.

Jetiet looked at Nadia and nodded.

Nadia cleared her throat and straightened her back as if she wanted to appear taller. "I apologize, Darth Tenebra. I do not know where they are – I lied to you in order to gain your cooperation."

Badesh wasn't taken aback that he had been lied to, nor was he especially surprised that a Jedi had lied to him. What rattled him was the fact that he had complied due to a small spark of hope to hear that his lovers and his apprentice were alive and well. He let himself be manipulated by _Jedi_!

"I feel your anger," said Jetiet, "yet you show considerable self-constraint, Sith. Might I propose a deal?"

Badesh jerked his head in her direction. "Are you out of your mind, Jedi? You dare to lie to me and expect me _not_ to behead you?"

"You may not know this, but since your capture five years have passed," replied Jetiet calmly.

Badesh stared at her, his mind working fast. Was she lying to him? No, what would she gain from such a lie? "What?"

"The Eternal Throne subjugated the Republic and the Empire, we are but vassals to Arcann. Our governments are mere puppets… Zakuul is slowly bleeding us dry."

Badesh tried to process the new information. "The Empire… lost the war?"

"But there is an Alliance who opposes Arcann," continued Jetiet without answering Badesh's question. "We are part of that Alliance and we would like to enlist you to our cause. Help us and we will help you find your companions."

"I can't … the Empire really lost the war?" asked Badesh once again before he pulled himself together. He eyed the Jedi before him. "I don't believe you. Even if you hadn't already lied to me, why in the galaxy would a Jedi want a Sith's help? In your eyes we are nothing but corruption and blight."

Jetiet's smile still didn't falter. "The Alliance is made of Imperials and Republicans alike, we have to look past our ideologies to fight the Eternal Throne and its fleet."

Badesh hesitated, he needed time to think. Everything was confusing, he had to check the holonet and most importantly – his holofrequency since he had lost his own holocomm device.

"I need to think about your offer, Jedi," he answered. "Where is a holoconsole?"

Jetiet looked at Nadia, she nodded and said. "I will show you, follow me."


	2. Escape

Nadia led him to a small room with a console; he stared at the back of her head, imagining cutting her tender neck. She had lied to him, disrespected him and dared to show him her back? She would pay for it, eventually…

"I can feel your hatred, Sith," said Nadia as she stopped and gestured towards a chair in front of the console.

"You would be a poor Jedi if you didn't," replied Badesh and sat down. "Shut the door behind you."

"It may be wasted on you, Sith, but I am truly sorry for deceiving you." Nadia looked firmly at him.

"You are right – it is wasted on me."

Nadia left him alone and as the door slid shut behind her Badesh connected to his holofrequency to check his messages. He searched for new messages from Quinn, Vette and then Azhikdae but he couldn't find any. With growing unease Badesh began to scour through the enormous pile of messages. Most of them were now obsolete news about the war and imperial edicts and a rather astounding one about the appointment of a new Empress.

ooOOoo

Two hours later he got up – his search for his companions had been fruitless. Badesh had tried to call them on their holofrequencies and sent messages to his imperial contacts – he was a member of the Dark Council after all, he should be able to find them within a heartbeat. Badesh was used that his requests were answered in a matter of minutes, but strangely enough no imperial response came to his inquiries. Just as he was getting impatient a beep indicated an incoming holocall. A quick look on the caller-ID told him, that it wasn't an official imperial holofrequency.

He pushed the receive button and saw a small figure materialize before him, it was an unknown imperial officer. The man's insignia indicated that he was a Lieutenant.

"My Lord," he said and bowed.

"What is the meaning of this, Lieutenant? Why is a low ranking officer responding to my requests?" Badesh hissed.

"Empress Alcina has issued a ban to all former members of the Dark Council, my Lord. We are forbidden to answer your calls or even recognize them." He said quietly. "In fact we are under order to shoot on sight should you approach Imperial space."

Badesh had read about the self-proclaimed new Empress, but he hadn't thought about the possibility that she had dared to ban him. He gritted his teeth.

"Indeed? And yet you call me. Why?"

"I fought alongside you and Darth Nox during the battle of Illum. I was only a recruit, but I witnessed your power and your conviction… I'm relieved to see you return, my Lord."

Badesh was uncertain how to respond. He never had such a strange conversation; what would Quinn do? What would Vette do?

"Very good… Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

"I'm afraid that my security clearance is too low to access information about Lord Azhikdae, Major Quinn or Sergeant Ce'na. But I will try to find more information and call you as soon as I find something," the Lieutenant said. It was hard to tell due to the small projection, but he seemed to have an earnest expression on his face.

"Name?" growled Badesh.

"Pardon me, my Lord?"

"What's your name?"

"Jaccol Tarsten."

"I expect to hear from you, Lieutenant Tarsten," said Badesh, "your help won't go unrewarded."

Tarsten bowed and Badesh ended the call.

He decided to meditate once more in an attempt to reach his companions through the Force. Azhikdae was a strong Force-user after all, and he shared a unique Force-bond with Vette and Quinn. It was a long shot, but Badesh was getting uneasy.

Badesh heard how the engines of the shuttle were getting slower. He opened his eyes and realised that he had been meditating for quite some time. He hadn't even asked where they were headed, Badesh thought sourly. Was it still the after-effect of the carbonite prison or was he simply unfocused?

He jumped on his feet and rushed to the cockpit; as expected the Jedi were both there. Nadia was checking something on her data pad while Jetiet stood next to the co-pilot seat. She had clearly expected him and smiled her usual infuriating friendly smile.

"I assume you came to a decision?" Jetiet asked.

"There is no need to be smug about it, Jedi!" spat Badesh. "You knew that I couldn't return to the Empire."

"It wasn't my intention to come across as condescending, Darth Tenebra. But you are right, I asked you to join our Alliance because I assumed that you had precious few options."

Badesh frowned, but even in his anger he registered the irritation coming from Nadia. He turned his head towards her, she didn't look at him, pretending to read her data pad. The emotion was over so quickly that he wasn't sure whether it was disgust, anger or even sadness.

Badesh turned his attention again to Jetiet and crossed his arms. "Where are we?"

"We are currently in orbit above a small trading post in the outer rim. Just in case you wanted to leave us after all."

Badesh just scoffed.

"Alright, we will plot a course to the Alliance base. We will reach it in two days, please make yourself comfortable in the meantime."

ooOOoo

Badesh lay on a thin mattress in the back of the shuttle. It was so small that it didn't have real beds or crew quarters. He didn't mind the lack of luxury, Badesh's thoughts still circled about the development of the past five years. He had read up as fast as he could and shook his head over and over again – how had the mighty Empire fallen! It was but a shadow of the Sith Empire it used to be. How any Sith could stand it was beyond him and yet there was an Empress, a Dark Council that was on Arcann's leash.

His thought returned to his companions. Quinn would despise this new Empire… Vette would too, probably… Azhikdae was too much of a pragmatist to care about one way or another. What if she had killed Vette and Quinn? He wouldn't put it past her to do anything to ensure her survival.

The very though enraged him, and pictures of the mutilated bodies of Vette and Quinn surfaced in his mind. Suddenly a very familiar urge for pain came over him. The mixture of excitement and fury made Badesh get up and grabbing a lightsaber he had taken from the Zakulan knights. He ignited it and held it close to his left arm. Slowly he lowered it until his skin was slightly burned by the blade. The searing pain made him calm and he pushed the images back in the deepest recesses of his mind.

Badesh was aware that his behaviour wasn't getting past the Jedi and thus he wasn't surprised to hear quick footsteps approaching him. He lifted his gaze from his arm to Nadia who had a peculiar unreadable expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" she asked and took a hesitant step towards him.

"It's none of your business," replied Badesh and put his lightsaber out. She was weak and full of compassion; Badesh briefly mused why Jetiet let her even talk to him. Nadia was still very young and full of compassion, she could easily be seduced by the Dark Side.

She simply frowned at him and left after a few moments. In the distance he could hear that Jetiet was addressing her. Badesh let himself fall on the mattress, staring at the ceiling, musing about his next steps.


	3. Odessen

When they finally arrived at their destination, Badesh was relieved to get out of the small shuttle. It had taken all his restraint not to lash out at the Jedi. Especially Jetiet was grinding his gears with her constant friendly and at the same time distant smile. Nadia had been interesting to study, he caught her several times staring at him. Mostly when he wasn't wearing his mask. Perhaps she hadn't seen a Pureblood Sith before? Or it was it simply that she was curious about seeing a Sith up close?

"Welcome to Odessen," said Jetiet as she lowered the ramp to the Alliance base.

Badesh remained silent as he stepped outside. He had already seen from the cockpit what Odessen was like but actually breathing the fresh, pine-scented air gave him the feeling that it was real. After taking a deep breath he put his mask on and scanned the vicinity.

There were countless people working on a large hangar built into the mountain. It seemed as if the Alliance had arrived only months ago and was still building its base. He frowned; Jetiet had led him to believe that this Alliance was much bigger and already stable.

She stepped next to him. "I will introduce you to our commander, please follow me."

Badesh looked around one last time before he followed Jetiet and Nadia into one of the already finished hangars. He saw people wearing Imperial and Republic uniforms, in the distance he believed to see a Sith overseeing hand to hand combat with soldiers.

They stepped into a lift and with a soft sound its doors closed. Badesh reached out through the Force, he felt quite a few Force-users nearby. Perhaps the commander was a Jedi as well? When the lift doors finally sild open he caught on a Force signature that was familiar to him. Was it possible… ?

He stepped out of the lift and saw that they were in an underground cave of some sort. White-red banners hung from the ceiling, they showed the Republic and the Imperial emblem intertwined. A light skinned Human male with brown spiky hair was standing in front of a large holoprojector which displayed some sort of orbital station. A blonde human woman was standing next to him, they were discussing something.

"Commander? This is the Sith I told you about," said Jetiet and stopped a few meters away from them. Badesh was keenly aware of Nadia's presence in his back. Did they expect him to lash out?

The man turned around and Badesh crossed his arms; his senses had been accurate: Theron Shan, also known under his alias Theron Heian. Part of him was content to see his former lover again. But he was also cautious, the hardened look in Theron's eyes hadn't been there when they had last met.

Badesh also registered that the blonde woman was wearing a lightsaber, she eyes shone yellow, but he didn't feel darkness in her.

Theron stared at him, and suddenly the hardened look softened up. "I can't believe it - that mask! Is that really you Badesh?"

"Long time no see, Theron."

The blonde woman stepped forward. "Lana Beniko, pleased to meet you, my Lord." Her imperial accent told Badesh that she was probably a Sith after all.

Badesh nodded at her. "Are you Sith?"

"Yes, I'm Theron's tactical advisor. It's an honour to make your acquaintance."

Jetiet cleared her throat. "It will be good to have another Force-user in our ranks, Lana."

Beniko remained calm as she replied: "Not just another Force-user, Master Jedi. Possibly one of the most powerful Sith alive. He will add greatly to our strength."

Badesh didn't like the way they casually talked about him despite him being in the same room as they. He decided it was time to show them that he had recuperated from the carbonite imprisonment. Badesh summoned images from his slain enemy from his mind and let the Force gather around him; the way it whirled around him would show any Force sensitive that he was very, very powerful. The lights began to flicker and a slight tremor shook the room. Badesh enjoyed the sudden spikes of emotion from the people in the room and registered with pleasure that even Jetiet was disquieted.

"I am not to be trifled with," said Badesh with a low voice, "I am no tool and not interested in flattery nor do I respond well to condescension. There is one reason I agreed to come here: I want to find my companions. The Jedi told me you would help me to find them."

"Apologizes, my Lord," Beniko bowed a little. "I wasn't aware of the terms of our collaboration. I assumed you wanted to restore the Empire to its former glory."

Badesh was taken aback and stopped gathering the Force around him. He hadn't even thought about serving the Empire – all he had thought about was to find Vette, Quinn and his Apprentice. How strange.

"Finding my companions is merely the first step," Badesh quickly said, "together we defeated the Sith Emperor, together we shall defeat Arcann."

Theron looked at him with a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I figured as much, you guys did stuff I wouldn't believe if I hadn't been there."

"The Emperor? I thought Alcina dispatched of him," said Nadia with a frown.

"No, we killed him about seven years ago. The Dark Council decided to keep it a secret – as you possibly recall it was for quite some time the so-called voice of the Emperor who proclaimed the alleged Emperor's will." Badesh clasped his hands behind his back. "I assume that all the former Dark Council members are dead?"

"Yes," replied Beniko, "Darth Nox was the last to fall during the invasion of Korriban four years ago. Survivors still tell tales about his powers, but in the end there were too many skytroopers."

To his surprise Badesh felt regret. It was true that he and Nox had fought against the Revanites together, but he had never considered them close.

Badesh turned to Jetiet. "What about the Jedi Council?"

For once she didn't smile when she answered. "Grandmaster Shan disappeared after the Republic had surrendered to Zakuul, but the order is still intact. Most of them honour the treatment between the Republic Senate and Arcann – they won't rise against him."

Badesh thought about commenting about the cowardly Jedi, but in lieu of his current situation he felt that would be petty and also obsolete.

"May I show you around?" asked Beniko after a few moments of silence.

Badesh nodded and followed her, leaving the others behind.

Beniko led him into the Force user enclave in the back of the underground base. Badesh registered that Sith and Jedi were training together – curiously enough a Voss was overseeing them.

"There are of course incidents between Republic and Imperial Forces," explained Beniko, "but they are usually swiftly dealt with by Sana-Rae. As you will discover most of the Force users tend to be more grey than light or dark."

"Like you," said Badesh.

"And you disapprove?"

"Yes, in my experience the Dark Side is stronger – passion is our strength. But my opinion on the subject doesn't matter. Reaching our goals is what matters."

"Well said," she replied. Badesh didn't miss the fact that she hadn't used his title for quite some time. She hadn't told him hers – despite the fact that she was most certainly a Lord.

ooOOoo

Their next stop was the office of Admiral Aygo. Badesh felt the tension that came over the Bothan Admiral as they entered the room. His first impulse was to try to intimidate Aygo, but Badesh hesitated – they needed each other, at least for the time being. Were Quinn here he would advice him to abstain from Sith theatrics.

"Admiral, may I introduce Darth Tenebra? He…" began Beniko.

"No need to tell me who he is," interrupted Aygo. He stood up from his desk and approached the Sith. "I'm glad for your support… my Lord." It was clear that he had to overcome his reluctance to use Badesh's title.

"You don't sound pleased, Admiral," said Badesh dryly.

"Forgive me. We've been on the opposite side of a war for a lot of years… old habits." Aygo straightened himself. "I was on Belsavis when you killed the War Trust – General Frellka was my commanding officer. After that incident I took an interest in your career."

Badesh wanted to gloat about killing the Republic generals but again he pulled himself together. "Then you know what I'm capable of, Admiral."

Aygo returned to his desk and sat down. "Yes, I am. Good day to you," he said curtly.

ooOOoo

Badesh was surprised to see a Hutt scientist and was even more surprised by the nonchalant way Doctor Oggurobb told them that he hadn't time for them. Beniko simply politely nodded and left; Badesh lingered for a few seconds confused on how he should react on this gross disrespect. Usually he would just maim anybody who dared to be rude towards him – but everything had changed and while he had been restraining himself so far Badesh grew confused. What was he supposed to do?

He decided to think about everything as soon as he was alone and followed Beniko to the last room in the underground bunker. A middle-aged Mirialan woman stood in the middle of the room and bellowed orders to her crew as they unloaded a freighter. She turned to Beniko and Badesh and grinned at them.

"You lost, or just slumming it down here with the likes of us?"

Beniko ignored her completely. "Hylo Visz is responsible for our logistics. The Alliance needs a lot to keep it going – food, equipment, weapons, ships – and it needs to get everything without popping up on Arcann's scanners. Hylo Visz is the best smuggler in the galaxy, or so she tells us."

"Hey, I AM the best smuggler in the known galaxy, Miss Sith!" Hylo stepped closer to Badesh and smiled at him. With a seductive voice she asked: "And who might you be? Y'know I have a certain weakness for well-build men."

Badesh was completely taken back by Hylo's question and needed a few seconds to come up with an answer. "I'm Darth Tenebra."

"Let me know if you want me to show you a good time," she said.

Her nonchalant reactions confused him. What was he supposed to do? Should he remain quite? Should he lash out? Suddenly his armour, his very skin seemed too tight, Badesh clenched his fist and bit on his lip until it bled. Anger boiled up in his chest. Even Hylo felt the silent threat and took a step back, lifting both her hands up as if she wanted to calm him.

"My Lord, might I suggest a sparring session in the Force-user enclave?" Beniko quickly asked.

Without waiting for him to answer she turned on her heel and led him back to the training room.

ooOOoo

As soon as they reached the enclave, Beniko briefly spoke with the Voss mystic in charge of the Force-users. Badesh paced back and forth, yearning for a fight, no for blood! He wanted to let them suffer, feel their pain and fear he would –

"Jedi Master Raabat will now spar with you." Beniko's voice cut through his angry thoughts and Badesh turned slowly around to face his opponent.

It was an alien he had never seen before; Badesh reached out through the Force and felt that he was powerful; but not powerful enough to pose a real challenge. But he didn't care. Badesh pulled the Zakuulan knight's lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. The Jedi followed suit and took a combat stance.

Badesh registered dimly that the attention of all Force-users was on them; most of them seemed fairly inexperienced – Padawans or Apprentices.

With a powerful jump Badesh lunged at Raabat, who elegantly parried his first attack. Badesh Force-pushed him away and dodged the small boulder Raabat had thrown at him. Their lightsabers interlocked for the first time and Badesh pushed Raabat with sheer brute strength away. Badesh continued with a series of quick and powerful lightsaber strikes. Raabat held his own but Badesh was running out of patience. He wanted to feel blood on his face! Badesh ripped his mask from his face and threw it away; he gritted his teeth as he jumped once again on his opponent.

After a few swings Badesh finally saw an opening and grazed Raabat's left hip with his lightsaber; he could've taken off his leg but he wanted to make it last longer. Mere moments later Raabat had been injured by several cuts and was panting. There was so doubt for any bystander that this wasn't a training session anymore – Badesh finally lifted the Jedi in the air and was about to strike at Raabat who was dangeling helplessly in the air when he realised that three Force-users were pointing their lightsabers against him. They were below him and with one swift gesture of his hand he swept them from their feet. He let Raabat fall and put his lightsaber away.

Badesh stormed out of the enclave and headed to out of the base toward a dense forest. As soon as he had passed the first few trees he drew his lightsaber again and cut through two fir trees. He used to Force to hurl the trunks away and yelled in his frustration, finally punching into a tall tree until his knuckles were bloody. Slowly he calmed down and let himself fall on the ground.

Badesh sat there for several minutes, using his fingernails on his bruised knuckles to keep the pain fresh. He wondered that had made him so agitated, it had been several days since he had actually killed someone – but it wasn't just the lack of blood that had almost driven him mad.

Badesh picked up a pine needle and used the Force to levitate it. He felt definitely uneasy because he didn't know where Quinn and Vette were… he didn't worry about Azhikdae as much as about his lovers. What if something had happened to them?

Badesh lost his focus and the pine needle fell softly on the forest soil. He simply stared at it. No, they couldn't… it was impossible. Quinn and Vette were an extraordinary team – even without Azhikdae – they were alive… they had to be.


	4. Training

Badesh stepped inside the Force enclave and started to look for his mask; there were no other Force-users in the room but one of the young Jedi who had trained their lightsabers on him earlier. The Twi'lek was meditating in front of a target dummy; a spike in his Force signature told Badesh that he had registered Badesh's presence.

He ignored the Jedi and continued to look for his mask, when he finally found it in a corner of the room he wiped the dirt off it and was about to put it back on when a voice rang out.

"Why do Sith wear masks?"

Badesh lowered his mask again and turned to face the young Jedi. He was still kneeling in front of the dummy, but he looked at Badesh. He felt curiosity as well as fear emanating from him. Any other time Badesh would have been amused, but now he only felt weary.

"To symbolize our transformation from a simple acolyte to a powerful Sith," he replied and put the mask back on. "But there are certainly some Sith who just want to hide how deep their connection to the Dark Side runs."

"Isn't being entrenched in the Dark Side something to be proud of in the Empire?" The Jedi now stood up and approached Badesh. He was still scared but tried his best to suppress his emotions.

"Of course it is," answered Badesh impatiently, "but only among Sith. And we don't need to see to understand."

Before the Jedi could ask any other questions Badesh left. When he reached the holoterminal where Theron had studied the orbital station Badesh realised that Beniko hadn't shown him his quarters. Badesh sighed and turned to one of the soldiers walking by.

"Soldier, where is Lana Beniko?"

She saluted him and said with a Republic accent: "Commander Shan and Advisor Beniko are both in the cantina."

"Show me the way," growled Badesh with arms crossed.

"Yes sir," answered the soldier.

ooOOoo

Just when Badesh thought the day couldn't get any stranger he was disproved: The cantina wasn't only a simple watering hole, it had the same amenities like a cantina in the core world. Badesh stopped for a moment at the entrance and listened to the music – the female Twi'lek singer had a rich and deep voice. The song was about a couple in love; yet it had a poignant tone to it.

Badesh continued his way to the main bar and searched for Beniko or Theron. Finally he saw them in one of the booths on the left side. He made his way through the crowd and cleared his throat when he finally stood before them; he noticed that Beniko was holding Theron's hand, her fingers were intertwined in his. Slowly they let go of each other.

"May I join you?" asked Badesh awkwardly.

Theron smiled at him. "Of course, sit down."

Badesh sat next to Theron.

"We yet have to finish our tour," remarked Beniko and waved the waiter over.

"Yes, in fact I looked for you because I'm in need of a shower and wanted to know where my quarters are," said Badesh quietly.

The waiter arrived and Beniko ordered another glass of wine. Theron ordered a beer.

"Corellian whiskey," said Badesh.

The waiter shot him an irritated look, and Theron came to his help.

"I'm afraid it had been years since Corellia was allowed to export something – but I can recommend Mon Bala whiskey, it's not as good as Corellian whiskey, but it's alright."

Badesh felt like a fool and it maddened him, with gritted teeth he ordered Mon Bala whiskey and tried to recall Vette's soft touch on his arm which calmed him always down.

"I will gladly show you your quarters after our drink," said Beniko. "Might I add that I was humbled by your power, Darth Tenebra? I enjoyed seeing you spar against Master Raabat."

Badesh's eyebrow rose. Beniko had been there the whole time and yet she didn't intervene when he was about to kill the Jedi. The Alliance wouldn't gain anything by losing a Force-user… Did she test him and his self-restraint? She was a Sith after all…

"You are not the first to think that my strength comes with a limited intellect, Lord Beniko. But my patience is wearing thin… I acknowledge that these are special circumstances but if you ever again try to manipulate me you will regret it," growled Badesh in a low voice. He wasn't angry at her, but it was important to make his point.

"What?" asked Theron alarmed.

"Don't," hissed Badesh, "you knew that she would test her new weapon to see whether it could be handled or not."

"You are right, Darth Tenebra, I apologize for my clumsiness," she calmly said.

Badesh registered of course that she didn't apologize for her manipulation but rather for her unsubtle approach and he simply stared at her.

The waiter arrived with the drinks and put them in front of them.

"And I apologize for my unfounded assumptions of your character; your files are incomplete and I had to gather my own intel," Beniko continued after a few moments of icy silence.

"Would you excuse us, Lana?" asked Theron in an unusual serious voice.

"Of course." She grabbed her glass of wine and got up.

Badesh watched how she strolled to the bar and started to talk to one of the officers standing there. Then he turned his attention to the drink in front of him, removed his mask and took a sip.

Theron played with the label of his beer bottle and after a few seconds of silence he finally spoke. "The reason why Lana's files about you are incomplete is because I never talked about you or your crew." He took a gulp of beer. "Everything has changed since the last time we met, my knowledge about you might be obsolete. And I knew that she was going to test you; it's her job after all – I won't apologize for it."

Badesh sighed. "I'm aware that some time has passed and some things have changed, but do you seriously think that I'm offended because of a missing apology?"

Theron put his beer down and rubbed his temples. "Of course not, I just wanted to make it clear to you that -" Theron stopped.

Badesh glanced at him; Theron seemed suddenly unwell.

"By the stars," Theron continued, "sometimes I feel like I don't know this Commander Shan-guy at all. He does and says all this stuff…"

Badesh was confused, what was this about? "What do you mean?" Damn it, he missed Vette – she would've known what to say. She would've smiled at Theron, said something light-hearted and insightful.

Theron leaned back and began to play with the label of his beer once more. "I don't know. Seeing you just brought back memories how easy things used to be. We were the good guys and we did the right things – everything is different now."

Badesh lifted his eyebrows questioningly. "We were the good guys? You are aware that you are talking to a Sith, right? A 'corrupted vile being' as a Jedi once called me before I ripped his innards out of his ripcage."

Theron glanced at him with a weary look. "Yeah, I know what you are – but you were still one of the good guys back then when we fought the Revanites. Quinn, Vette and you were the good guys. And Kalda and I were - I was more myself."

Badesh was unsure what to respond, then he hesitantly asked: "Kalda isn't here?"

"We lost contact over the years – I don't know where she is now." Theron's voice sounded strained.

Badesh wasn't sure what Theron's behaviour indicated, or how he should react to it so he decided to ignore it and ask the important questions.

"You know that I'm looking for Quinn and Vette… and my Apprentice. The Jedi – Jetiet – told me that you would help me find them. Have you found any leads so far?"

Theron took a gulp from his beer. "Our data banks haven't found anything so far – but things got quite messy after the Zakuulan invasion."

Badesh suddenly felt an iron grip around his chest; he took a deep breath but the feeling didn't disappear. "I'm glad that I met you, Theron," he said very quietly. "Everything is so confusing, nothing is how it's supposed to be…" He stopped mid-sentence and stared at the ice cubes in his drink. "I have to find them." He wanted to add 'I can't live without them' or 'I'm incomplete without them' but he couldn't; the word refused leave his lips.

Theron finished his beer and said: "Come on, I'll show you your quarters."

ooOOoo

About ten minutes later they stood in front of a rather large complex build into a rock formation; a lot of soldiers entered and exited the building. Badesh now realised that he hadn't thought that he would have to bunk with others – he was far from being spoiled but he hadn't shared a room since the academy; apart of course from all the times he had shared his bed with Quinn and Vette, but this was different.

Theron showed him to a room in the 6th floor; it had two beds in it.

Badesh could barely turn in the small room; he felt humiliated.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

Theron smiled at him and for a moment a younger, more careless version of him resurfaced. "Hey, we are not up to Dark Council standards, but it's the best we have – I have the same bunk… I share it with Lana."

"Indeed?" Badesh dryly asked.

"Yeah, it seems like I developed a taste for Sith Lords," Theron grinned, he blushed a little.

"If I recall correctly, you called us having sex together a mistake," Badesh replied and stepped to the small window in the back of the room. He could see the forest in the pale moonlight. "What has changed?"

"I changed," said Theron in a low voice. "And there is also the fact that it was already clear then that you wanted someone else."

"Yes, I did," Badesh answered. He turned around and saw that Theron was again rubbing his temples.

Theron registered his stare. "I'm just getting used to the new implants, no need to worry."

"I wasn't worrying about you," Badesh said with a frown. What a strange assumption.

"Of course not." Theron cleared his throat. "We are having a briefing tomorrow at 0800. Please attend, we could use your help."

Badesh nodded and Theron left. As soon as the door slid shut behind him Badesh sat down on the bed. He let his gaze wander over the small room. It wasn't befitting his station as the probably most powerful Force-user in the whole compound and he felt a hint of bitterness at the thought that he hadn't a choice – of course he could demand more room but in the end… but it would be ridiculous, it wasn't important, not really.

His thoughts returned to Quinn and Vette – he had to ask for a new holocommunicator. Just in case.

Badesh grabbed a fresh towel that was lying on the bed, next to a fresh pair of pyjamas and stepped out of the room. The common shower was at the end of the hallway and as he strode down the corridor he was aware of the astounded looks of the soldiers he encountered. He despised the nosy stares but at the same time he felt powerless against them.

What was he supposed to do? Yell at them? Choke them? Everything seemed wrong.

Then he remembered when he and Quinn had once boarded a Republic vessel to negotiate the terms of surrender. The Republic warship had been in an inferior position after a border dispute and Vette had suggested to take them captive instead of simply killing them all. Badesh, as the highest ranking commander had agreed to talk to the captain of the Republic vessel.

The Republic soldiers hadn't dared to give him the evil eye, but Badesh registered the way they stared at Quinn who followed a few steps behind him. He was about to threated them or even kill them for disrespecting Malavai… but then he caught sight of Quinn.

He carried himself with dignity, the stares just seemed bounce off him. Quinn had always been a proud, almost arrogant man and even in the most dire situations he kept his cool and his unwavering dignity.

Badesh smiled under his mask when he thought of Quinn, he recalled the feeling when he caressed Quinn's stubble in the morning. Vette was usually sleeping cuddled up at his left side while Quinn was sleeping on the right. He used to give Vette a soft kiss on her head and stroke Quinn's face. Badesh took a deep breath.

Yes, it wasn't about power or about his current station, it was about dignity! Badesh continued his way down the corridor, ignoring the stares. Vette would've said something funny… 'Let them stare! It's not every day that the common grunt gets to see a Sith taking a shower – they probably think you don't do it, they just assume that you bathe in blood or something like that… but a shower – never!'

Finally he arrived at the bathrooms and without further ado he undressed himself in front of two flabbergasted soldiers in Republic uniforms and stepped into the shower.

There were already a man and a woman washing themselves, but they stopped and sucked in their breath as they laid eyes on Badesh. But they quickly averted their gazes and Badesh enjoyed a long hot shower.


	5. Star Fortress

When he returned to his room he saw that the other bed was occupied by a Mirialan woman in pyjamas; she jumped up and saluted.

"My lord!"

Badesh narrowed his eyes – the woman seemed familiar to him. Her accent sounded Imperial, but it was still tainted by a Republic felling.

"At ease, Sergeant," he replied. Where he had met her? He knew her. "Name?"

"Sergeant Barriss Lorso, former 107th Imperial logistic corps." She relaxed into a parade rest.

The name again sounded familiar to him, but he still couldn't remember her. Badesh briefly thought about the possibility that she was some kind of spy but then he discarded the notion. If the Alliance wanted to spy on him they would've bugged the room, there was no need for an operative with a strange accent.

Badesh took his robes off and sat down on the bed to pull his boots from his feet. "There is no need in this room for formalities, Sergeant."

She nodded and also sat down on the bed. "I hope you don't mind being roomed with me, my lord?"

"No, I don't," Badesh curtly answered and pulled his pants down.

There was silence when he put his pyjama on; but suddenly Lorso spoke again.

"You probably don't remember me, si- my lord. But I… just wanted to say that I'm grateful for what you did back on Kaon."

As soon as he heard the name of the rakghoul-infested planet he and Darth Nox had visited Badesh remembered why she was familiar to him: Barriss was Nox' little sister who he and his crew had saved from the rakghouls as well as from Nox' desire to eradicate his past as a slave.

"You don't have to be grateful…" he hesitantly replied. "In the end it was your brother's decision to … save you." It wasn't entirely true of course, it had been Vette and Quinn who had managed to convince Nox to take her with them. The Darth had planned to kill her in order to get rid of his troublesome past.

"Yes my lord," she simply replied.

Badesh put his clothes in the fresher and lay down on the bed. How strange that Darth Nox' little sister was here with him – the Force truly works in mysterious ways… even if she had volunteered to share a room with him. There had to be a meaning to it.

ooOOoo

Theron started the briefing at 0800 sharp. Badesh stood with crossed arms in front of the holoprojector and listened to the defences of the Zakuulan orbital stations – also called star fortresses – which had been place over every planet in the core world to keep the people from disobeying Arcann.

"Long story short, we have to find a way to take them out." Theron paced back and forth and gestured at the star fortress on the projector. "They have, as you have heard, several layers of security. In order to destroy the star fortresses we need more information on the inside."

"We want to send a small but powerful strike team – we assume that any intrusion will be detected sooner or later," added Beniko.

Badesh realised of course that this was the reason why Theron had asked him to attend the briefing: They needed him for the mission because he was powerful and disposable. It didn't matter to him – in fact he was excited about the prospect of a challenging fight.

"Master Jetiet is in charge, her Padawan and Master Raabat will accompany her…" Theron turned to Badesh, "and I ask you to join them, Bad… Darth Tenebra."

Badesh scoffed. "Do you really want to send a Padawan on this mission? She is the weakest of us."

"Hey!" interjected Nadia. "I've proven my worth more than once!"

"Nadia is coming; are you?" asked Jetiet with her usual smile.

"Yes," Badesh simply said. He didn't add that he longed for blood on his face… that he wanted to crush his enemies and enjoy their pain. Vette had always glared at him when he did that – she wouldn't approve.

"Good, we will meet in two hours in hangar two," said Theron and shut the holoprojector down. The displayed star fortress disappeared and the room got considerably darker once the holoprojector was turned off.

Badesh waited until the others had left. Theron went to a commstation and began to program something. Badesh crossed the room and leaned against the commstation.

"I need a new holocommunicator."

Theron shortly looked up and nodded. "No prob, I will give you one before you leave…"

"No, I need it now," said Badesh with a low voice. "I don't mind being your attack dog, but we still have a deal."

"Of course. I didn't mean to-" Theron gestured Badesh to follow him.

"Have you heard anything from your spies – have they found Quinn and Vette?"

"No, not yet. But I will let you know as soon as I hear something."

They had reached the armoury and Theron simply took a holocommunicator from a box and handed it to Badesh.

"I assume you are aware that I don't care about the Jedi? If they prove to be weak I will leave them to die." Badesh activated the holocommunicator and installed with a few quick commands his holofrequency on it.

"Believe me, I know what you are capable of – but I hope that you practical side wins over your sith-y side. We are both in need of allies."

Badesh put the holocommdevice in his robe and looked Theron straight in the eye for a few moments before he simply turned on his heel and left.

ooOOoo

Even as the shuttle took off to carry them to the nearest star fortress over Alderaan Badesh was still scrolling through his messages, growing increasingly frustrated because he still didn't get an answer on his mails. He was restless and if the shuttle hadn't been too small he would've paced or done push-ups… anything to get rid of his thoughts about his lovers. Where were they? Had something happened to them?

"I wonder how you Sith stand all this agitation… your Force-signature vibrates with anger and passion, Darth Tenebra."

Badesh lifted his gaze from his device to Nadia who sat on a seat opposite from him.

"Anger is a very strong emotion and channelled accordingly it become one's most powerful weapon," Badesh answered.

"Really?" asked Nadia.

"Padawan… remember you Jedi training," said Jetiet with a frown.

Badesh laughed. "You are really afraid of the dark side, aren't you? Are Jedi forbidden to ask questions?"

Jetiet smiled, but it seemed icier than usual. "Of course not, Sith. But the easy way is always seductive."

"There is nothing easy about surviving the Sith Academy," snarled Badesh.

"There is a time and a place to discuss philosophy – but now we have to work together," said Raabat.

Badesh turned his attention again on his holocommunicator and scrolled through old messages from Vette and Quinn.

ooOOoo

It was surprisingly easy to dock at the star fortress and enter the first airlock. Badesh immediately suspected a trap. But as they worked through the first layer of security – an encrypted blast door which was quickly disabled by Nadia – he began to understand that it wasn't a trap but the arrogance of the Zakuulian people that enabled the boarding party to gain access to the star fortress.

They silently worked their way towards the command centre in the middle of the orbital station. Suddenly Badesh felt how Force-sensitives approached them; the look on the Jedi's faces told him that they felt it too.

"Did we trip a silent alarm?" whispered Nadia and reached for her double-bladed lightsaber.

"Possible," answered Jetiet calmly. "But we always knew that we would be discovered eventually."

"There is no emotion, there is peace," said Raabat solemnly.

"Speak for yourself," hissed Badesh.

The Force-users were upon them and in a matter of seconds the door next to them slid open and revealed six Zakuulan knights in black armour. Badesh sensed that they were strong – the fight would be interesting.

Jetiet began the battle as she threw a storage container against the knights – two of the deflected it with a fluent movement; there was no doubt that they were well attuned to each other.

Badesh tightened his grip on the lightsaber hilt. "I will lead the attack, try to stay out of my way!"

With a roar he lunged at the opponents, fully aware of the danger of engaging a superior force. Two of the Zakuulan knights jumped out of the way while the four remaining knights drew their lightsabers. Badesh felt the presence of the two knights out of his field of vision – the knights in front of him would most likely block him so that the one's behind him could strike. With one swift movement he rebounded away from the four knights, grabbing the knight on the left with the Force and hurling her against the group while ramming with his shoulder into the one on the right. The knight banged on the floor, his metallic armour making a rattling noise. He was quick on his feet and flipped back on his feet right away, but Badesh had him already transfixed with the Force while driving his lightsaber through his chest. The knight fell on his knees, coughing blood. Badesh grinned as he beheaded him with one swift movement of his weapon.

He enjoyed the sight of blood so much that he almost turned too late to block a vicious attack of two knights; he was driven back by their perfectly synced assault. From the corner of his eye Badesh saw that the Jedi had also engaged in the fight. Badesh's counter-attacks didn't connect at all and he grew impatient as he was forced to doge a combined attack by jumping farther away. He prepared to fend the attacker off once again but was surprised to see that they lost interest in him as they darted away towards the Nadia who was holding her own against a knight.

Badesh gritted his teeth; they had changed tactics – they would take them down one by one. Badesh started to run towards Nadia but he wouldn't reach her in time. Luckily she sensed the danger and managed to block two of the knights with her double-bladed lightsaber. But the last one grazed her left arm, the familiar stench of burnt flesh reached Badesh's nose before his was even near her. Just as they were about to strike again Badesh Force-pushed Nadia away and threw his lightsaber to distract the knights.

Again the quickly adjusted their tactics, dodged the lightsaber and jumped to Raabat. Badesh snorted – they were avoiding him! They would switch targets as quickly as they could, Badesh glanced at Nadia who had just gotten back on her feet. She was the weakest at the moment, he would attack her first if he were one of the knights.

He turned his attention back on the knights and Raabat who had managed to par their attacks. Suddenly several smaller cargo containers flew towards the Zakuulans. He didn't see Jetiet, but he could feel her jump behind the flying containers. The knights repelled them, but were ultimately surprised as Jetiet appeared from behind the containers and killed one of them with a stroke before she bounced back to Raabat who used the confusion among the opponents to Force-pull one of them towards him. He impaled the knight on his lightsaber.

Badesh was irritated that he didn't feel any pleasure from the Jedi – even after they had vanquished their foes they didn't revel in it! He didn't let this lack of emotion distract him, he had stayed close to Nadia and sure enough the remaining three knights lunged at her.

Badesh dashed in front of her and grabbed one of the knights by his throat, the two others were attacked from behind by Raabat and Jetiet. Nadia had circled around Badesh and killed the two distracted knights quickly. Badesh was excited as he strangled the life out of the knight, he gargled and scratched in vain at Badesh's gloves. Badesh threw the body carelessly away as soon as he finally stopped breathing.

"The command centre is down this way," Jetiet quickly patched up Nadia with a kolto bandage and took the lead. Raabat followed her down a dimly lit corridor, Nadia stayed back a little and gritted her teeth as she softly touched her injured arm.

Badesh clearly felt that Nadia was struggling to calm down – she violently fought against her fear and her pain. He snorted, why Jedi didn't utilize their emotions was beyond him; no wonder that they remained weak.

They approached the command centre and Badesh felt a strong presence. Badesh suddenly knew why the fortress wasn't heavily guarded. Arcann trusted in the strength of the lord of this station. What arrogance!

The room temperature had risen considerably, sweat was running down Badesh's face. One quick look at the Jedi told him that they weren't handling the heat as well as he did. Raabat was panting, probably due to his alien physiology, he had heard that his species usually inhabited forest-planets. Nadia's white face paint seemed to melt away and became a mess when she wiped across her face. Jetiet simply let her heavy robes fall, she was less hampered by the heat than the others.

The door to the command centre slid open and revealed the reason for the immense heat: a small sun reactor was powering the station. And there was only a single force field between them and the artificial sun. The glistening light from the sun blinded Badesh for a moment, then his eyes got used to the intense light: a single Zukuulan knight was sitting behind a ridiculously tacky desk with golden ornaments. The knight wore an equally gaudy armour with icons on it. Transparent orange holodisplays were the only thing between them and their opponent.

"I'm the Exarch of this station," the knight said, "be honoured that you will die by my hand." He got up from his chair.

"Surrender and we will let you live," replied Jetiet calmly.

Badesh crossed his arms and grinned maliciously at her. "Has that ever worked, Jedi?"

"You would be surprised, Sith," she sharply retorted.

"Two of you are already weakened, and you still think you can win?" sneered the Exarch.

Badesh held out his hand and his lightsabre flew from his belt in his hand, he ignited it. "I will grind your bones to dust!"

"You can't do it alone, Sith!" Rabaat also drew his lightsaber and stepped next to him. Nadia followed his example.

Nadia and Jetiet both lifted their hands and pushed the Exarch into the force field behind him. Rabaat lunged at him and missed him only by centimetres with his lightsaber. Badesh was about to join the battle when he sensed danger, instinctively he used the Force to shield himself. He was just in time as the Exarch counterattacked with his saberstaff and simultaneously deactivated the force field. Suffocating hot air filled the room, even though his Force shield Badesh felt the torrid burst of the sun reactor. Rabaat was hit by the Exarch's saberstaff and flew backwards into Jetiet who deflected him with the Force. Nadia had fallen on her knees with a cry of pain on her lips, her double-bladed lightsaber lay next to her.

Badesh quickly analysed the situation. Even without the advantage of the heat the Exarch would have been a strong opponent, but with it it would indeed become an intense fight. They would not last long in this torrid air, he had to act quickly. He used the Force to pick up Nadia's weapon and activated it as his fingers closed their gasp around its hilt. He shifted through his memories until he found the most powerful one – an old vision of Vette and Quinn lying dead next to each other. Badesh channelled his rage into his attack as he lunged at the Exarch.

Every meter closer to the sun reactor gave him the feeling that his skin would melt off his bones, but Badesh didn't hesitate, instead the unleashed a barrage of attacks that drove the Exarch back towards the edge of now deactivated force field. Just as the Exarch had found an opening in the aggressive attacks that left Badesh wide open to a counterattack they had reached the edge of the force field and Badesh registered how one of the Exarchs legs was now across the threshold. Badesh spun on his heel and threw Nadia's lightsabre into the controls on the desk, the Exarch was about to impale Badesh with his saberstaff when the force fields were activated again – as Badesh had gambled on they would as soon as the controls were destroyed – and the Exarchs right leg as well his left elbow were cut off by the force field.

With a horrible scream the Exarch fell on the floor, his gaudy armour clanging loudly against the metallic floor. Badesh stood above him, feeling a wild satisfaction as he watched his enemy bleed to death. The blood almost instantly dried up as it hit the hot floor, after a few moments Badesh finally drove his lightsaber through the Exarchs skull, ending the screams.

He turned and saw how Jetiet used a dataspike in one of the intact computers on the left side of the room; Badesh wiped the sweat off his face and approached her.

"Any luck?" he asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure what I'm seeing – I'll download everything accessible. Commander Shan has a far better understanding of these things as I."

Badesh realised that Nadia and Rabaat were nowhere to be seen. He briskly crossed the room and found Rabaat right where the Exarch had thrown him. Badesh knelt down. Rabaat didn't look well, his green skin had dried up and had turned almost brown. His breath was fast and abnormal.

Badesh glanced at Nadia's lifeless form, she appeared to be unconscious.

"Jedi, your _friends_ are injured," he said.

"The mission is the priority," replied Jetiet and threw a quick look over her shoulder. Her expression was unreadable and Badesh felt nothing but calmness from her. "The data spike will have finished in a few minutes."

Badesh got up and crossed his arms, looking at the two Jedi at his feet. Vette would insist that he took them away from this torrid heat. Quinn also wouldn't approve. 'My lord, is it wise to harm your allies?' He could almost hear his voice. Badesh bent down and picked Raabat up, he threw him roughly over his shoulder and did the same with Nadia. With the two Jedi on his left respectively right shoulder he left the control room.

After a few meters the temperature became cooler, and by the time he had reached the shuttle he almost felt cold. Badesh dropped the Jedi on the floor of the shuttle and grabbed a water bottle from one of the compartments and spilled its content over Raabat. Then he did the same with Nadia, she gasped and woke up. She sat up and wiped the remains of her face paint away as she buried her face in her hands. Finally she looked up. She let her gaze wander from Raabat to Badesh.

"Where is my Master?" She was uneasy.

"I'm here," said Jetiet as she stepped into the shuttle and closed the airlock behind her.

"Master, what happened?"

"The Sith killed the Exarch and we completed our mission," Jetiet smiled at her Padawan.

Nadia turned her attention to Raabat. "Master Raabat isn't well, we have to heal him."

"Fly the shuttle, Nadia – I will take care of him." Jetiet stepped next to Raabat and clasped her hands together. She was probably meditating for a healing ritual. Badesh observed her closely. He had used the Force to heal Vette and Quinn in times of distress, but it had been crude and imprecise - like a gardener almost drowning a withered tree with water instead of giving it exactly what it needed to flourish again.

Nadia stood up and rushed to the pilot's seat. Moments later they had left the station.

Jetiet meditated for almost half an hour before a golden glow appeared around her hands. She took a knee and put her right hand on Raabat's head and her left on his chest. Badesh reached out through the Force and felt how she vitalised every single cell. Slowly and steadily.

She looked up, her usual smile on her lips. "For a Sith you seem very interested in Light Side healing."

"All workings of the Force are interesting."

"Indeed they are. I was impressed at your burst of power when you fought the Exarch. It was as if suddenly you had become more powerful…"

Badesh realised that she tried to probe his mind with the Force. He shut her out. "That is the power of the Dark Side, Jedi. Sith do not have limits."

"Ah yes, emotions are indeed potent, but also very fickle, are they not?" Jetiet had finished healing Raabat and sat down on a seat across from Badesh.

She knew. He had been so focused on the Exarch that he hadn't shielded his mind – and his emotions. Had she seen his memories? "There is no safe way to real power," replied Badesh. Then he grinned and leaned towards her. "But you know all about that, don't you? Your power comes from detachment, balance is everything for you. Even though your Apprentice was hurt and Raabat was dying, you had to keep yourself in check and finished the mission. Jedi are supposed to be compassionate and at the same time cold and calculating. I bet it tears you up. How do you live with this inconsistency?"

Jetiet's smile didn't falter, but she got up and headed to the cockpit without answering his question.


	6. Stargazing

On Odessen they were welcomed by Theron, Admiral Aygo, Lana Beniko and a couple of medics. Nadia had already reported their success via holo, and Theron quickly disappeared with the data spike as soon as he got it. Beniko bowed curtly towards them and left as well together with the medics as they brought Raabat to the med bay. Badesh caught a glance of the Jedi on the stretcher, he was still unconscious, but his skin colour was back to green. He assumed that the Jedi would survive.

"Congratulations on a mission well done!" barked Aygo in a coarse and extoling cadence only war-veterans seemed to master.

Nadia, who still looked shaky, bowed.

"Thank you, Admiral." Jetiet bowed as well and strode out of the hangar.

Badesh nodded curtly. "Admiral."

"Darth Tenebra." Aygo turned on his heel and went to a group of soldiers in the back of the hangar.

Badesh was about to return to his quarters when Nadia spoke up.

"I felt your power, Darth Tenebra… Master Jetiet says that the light is always stronger and yet-" she didn't finish the sentence.

A true Sith would've used this opportunity to wet her appetite for power, for glory… Nadia couldn't control her emotions, it was only a question of time before she fell to the Dark Side. All she needed was a push in the right direction …

Badesh was about to tell her about the Dark Side when he halted. What purpose would it serve when he turned her to the Dark Side? Another apprentice who would eventually try to kill him - try to kill Vette and Quinn as Jaesa had?

"That's a question for your master," he curtly answered.

She frowned at him and finally hurried away, it seemed that her guilty conscience had caught up with her.

When he watched her leave his thoughts returned once again to his lovers. Of course he had checked his holocomm again on his way back to Odessen, but it did little to dispel his unrest. He had to do something besides reading messages from years ago. Badesh remembered that he wanted to ask Aygo about intel on Quinn and Vette – at least Quinn's career had to leave some traces in the Republic records.

Aygo was still talking to his soldiers, Badesh felt humiliated to have to call on him like an unwanted visitor – a beggar even! He was irked and testy as he finally decided to walk over. He ignored the stares from the soldiers, due to their helmets he couldn't tell from their expressions, but their feelings gave him satisfaction: fear, anger and uncertainty. Agyo emanated the same emotions, but he kept his cool as he faced him.

"Admiral, a word, please."

"Of course – dismissed," he yelled at the soldiers and gestured Badesh to speak.

"You might be aware that I'm looking for my companions – I assume that you have access to Republic military databank and I … would like to check their files. They might give me clues about their whereabouts." Badesh clenched his fist while he talked.

"Yes, Commander Shan asked me to look into them for the same reasons. Unfortunately there aren't any current files on Major Quinn or Sergeant Ce'na in the databanks."

Badesh didn't sense deceit in his words and frowned. "I see. Thank you Admiral."

He should've known that Theron had already looked into it! He had made a fool of himself! Badesh bit his lip and headed into the woods.

ooOOoo

An hour later he arrived at his quarters. He had raged in the forest until a small clearing was cut in the thick woods and sweat was running down his face. He quickly picked up a towel and headed to the showers. Again he ignored the stares until he finally let hot water patter on his torso. He pressed his hands against the smooth tiles on the wall and ducked so that the shower beam could reach his head. Badesh watched as little runlets of dirty and bloody water tripped down on the white floor and disappeared in the drain.

Why hadn't he seduced Nadia to the Dark Side? Because it didn't matter anymore … He was working with Jedi – there was no point in clinging to philosophy. But what else was there?

His musings were interrupted by a squad of soldiers who burst into the shower. Voices with Imperial and Republic accents laughing and joking together. The noise died down to a murmur as soon as they stepped into the shower and saw Badesh.

He lifted his head, glared at them and turned the water off. Slowly he left the room and took his clothes out of the fresher. As he dressed himself he should hear voices from the shower.

"Who is the Sith? Never seen him before," asked a female voice with Republic accent.

"No idea, I've seen my share of Sith's back on Dromund Kaas – they always wear masks. As far as I'm concerned he might as well be Darth Marr."

"Darth Marr is dead."

"I didn't say he's Darth Marr! I just said that I don't know!"

Badesh finished dressing and headed into the mess hall. To his dismay there was a rather long queue to the replimat. He briefly debated whether he should simply brush the soldiers before him out of the way but he felt strangely passive and indifferent. Whatever. He could wait.

When it was finally his turn Badesh replicated a simple stew and sat down at a crowded table. To his relief he was completely ignored, he simply disappeared in the mass. It felt strangely comforting. He ate slowly, thinking about the past hours.

ooOOoo

Back on his way to his quarters he saw Barriss, she was slowly walking towards their room and was reading something on a data pad. Suddenly she stopped and turned around, she almost bumped into Badesh.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my lord. I didn't see you."

He looked down on her, she barely reached his chest. "Quite an interesting read you must have, Sergeant. I'm not usually overlooked."

She craned her neck and gave him a quick smile. "I guess you're right. But it's true – I'm reading up on astronomy and just realised that I could see a meteor shower tonight. I thought that I could go take a look."

The thought of watching the black sky and feeling fresh air on his face suddenly seemed very appealing to him. Perhaps it would clear his mind? "Do you mind if I accompany you?"

Barriss blinked in surprise. "Eh- no, of course not."

They began to walk in the direction of the main exit. Nadia passed them and frowned a little, Barriss winked at her.

"Do you know her?" asked Badesh.

"Kind of – I met a bunch of Mirialans in the cantina the other day. Republic soldiers of course, and they knew her and invited her to our table. I guess you know her too?"

Badesh cleared his throat. "She was one of the Jedi who freed me from my carbonite prison. And we just worked together on a mission."

They reached the exit and stepped outside.

"Let head to the small hill over there – I guess we get a pretty good view from there," said Barriss.

After marching for a couple of minutes they reached the hilltop and Barriss sat down in the grass. Badesh hesitated for a moment, then he followed her example. He removed his mask and took a deep breath. The air felt cool and fresh, there was a hint of pine in it.

"If you don't mind my asking … have you heard from Vette?"

Badesh jerked his head towards her and narrowed his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

She plucked a leaf from a nearby plant and started to play with it. "After you rescued me from Kaon she sometimes visited me in the orphanage in Kaas City. She's my friend."

He relaxed and took another deep breath. "I see. No, I'm afraid I haven't heard from her. But I will find her and Quinn."

They fell silent for a moment. Badesh looked up at the sky and looked at the stars and planets. They were out there somewhere. In this moment the meteors passed by and Barriss gasped.

"This is great! So close!"

"Surely you have seen your share of astronomical phenomena?" he dryly asked.

"Of course, but it never gets old."

They continued to stare at the sky for a couple of minutes when Barriss cleared her throat. "Uh, could I have a look at your lightsaber?"

Badesh frowned but unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and handed it Barriss.

"Whoa, I didn't think I was allowed to touch it!" She activated a flashlight droid and started to examine the weapon.

"It's only a tool, a weapon. And don't touch the button on the hilt – it'll activate it and since you're holding hit the wrong way you would be impaled."

The warning did nothing to curb her enthusiasm. "I admit I've always been fascinated by lightsabers – perhaps it's because my brother was a Sith. I like to watch Force-users train with it, but none of the Jedi would allow me to hold their weapon."

Badesh snorted. "Ah, the Jedi. There is much weight, much craving attached to such a tiny thing. For the male Jedi, it seems to have inordinate importance. They think it's some kind of holy relic, but in truth it's only a weapon."

Barriss grinned. "Perhaps, but I have to admit that up until now I have not even considered asking a Sith for their lightsaber. I always thought that would be unwise."

"Well, I wouldn't recommend it."

She handed him the lightsaber back. "Thanks. Yeah, I thought so too – especially after I asked a young Padawan to see his lightsaber. He actually led me in his room only to drop his pants as soon as the door had closed. I guess he thought I was talking about his other 'lightsaber'. He was of course mortified when he realised his mistake."

Badesh laughed loudly.

She chuckled. "I didn't know that you could laugh – you are always so serious."

"There isn't much reason to laugh," he said, his mood somewhat dimmed.

"You know what – I know that Vette wouldn't approve of all this gloomy talk. I think it's my duty as her friend to lift your spirits as well as I can," said Barriss and added haltingly, "uh, my lord."

Badesh raised an eyebrow. "You might be right. I guess you can call me Badesh, after all you've just had your way with my lightsaber."

She smiled. "All right, and since you've seen me in my embarrassing nexu pyjamas I guess you can call me Barriss."

They watched the night sky a little longer before they finally returned to their room.


	7. Thesh Squad

In the morning Badesh was woken up by the beeping of his holo. He wiped over his face and reached for the device. Theron's figure materialised.

"Morning Badesh, I've got another mission for you. Please meet me in the war room."

"Yes," replied Badesh, ended the call and slowly got up from the bed. He yawned at he checked the time. He had slept longer than usual, usually he got up at half past six, now it was already past seven. It seemed that the conversation with Barriss had calmed him down more than he had thought – he also felt more relaxed.

ooOOoo

Theron, Beniko and Admiral Aygo already expected him.

"Let's get started right away," began Theron, "Master Raabat was supposed to lead an attack on a small Zakuulan resupply station in the outer rim, we want to get cargo ship codes from the command console. Since he's still in med bay I want you to replace him."

"As you wish," said Badesh.

"You'll act as squad leader – Admiral Aygo will be in command of the company. You will report to him, I hope that's not an issue?"

Badesh crossed his arms. "No."

Aygo had a grim look on his face. "Your troops, ground pounders of course, mostly consist of former Republic soldiers, they will mistrust you."

"Trust isn't an issue as long as they follow orders," replied Badesh dryly.

"Of course they will, but there may be a moment of hesitation that could prove fatal," said Aygo. "I will introduce you to them."

Badesh merely nodded.

"We are grateful for your assistance, my lord," added Beniko smoothly. "We are holding our end of our bargain as well."

"We should get going," said Agyo.

"As you wish," repeated Badesh wearily.

Agyo led on and Badesh followed him into a small lift. As soon as the doors had closed Agyo turned to face him.

"The Commander trusts you – the galaxy knows why – and I will support him because he is the reason why we are all here."

Badesh clasped his hands behind his back and stared down on the smaller man. "But?"

"But I won't stand for any unnecessary losses; my soldiers are important to me, they are not cannon fodder for a Sith. And before you object, your bloodthirsty reputation precedes you!"

"Do you men share your views on my track record?"

"Yes."

"I see."

The lift stopped and the doors slid open. They were in a smaller hangar in the eastern wing of the base. A squad of twelve soldiers was being briefed by a tall dark skinned human male with a large tattoo on his face. Aygo and Badesh approached them and they all snapped into attention.

"At ease," ordered Aygo. "I'm here to tell you that there has been a change of plan. Master Raabat is still injured and can't partake in the mission. Darth Tenebra will replace him."

Badesh felt the unrest among the soldiers.

"Sir! I'm Lieutenant Felix Iresso and this is Thesh Squad." Iresso saluted him.

Badesh began to pace back and forth in front of them. "Thesh squad … you are experienced soldiers I take it?"

"Yes sir!" replied Iresso vividly.

"Thesh squad … Have you ever worked with a Sith before?"

"No sir!" shouted the soldiers in unison.

"I assume you have fought Sith before?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then you know what Sith are capable of – perhaps you have even heard of me?"

Some of the soldiers murmured. He could feel their unease grow.

"According to Imperial Intelligence I have many names in the Republic military: the Scourge of Corellia, the Butcher of Quesh and so on and forth. And I assure you – all these titles are well earned. I don't show mercy towards my enemies."

Badesh paused before he continued talking. "But among the Imperial military I also have many names. The Hero of Hoth, the Saviour of Makeb; all these titles are well earned too. Because I care for the soldiers under my command, I personally killed two Sith Lords who thought that they could waste Imperial lives to satisfy their pride and vanity."

Badesh halted again, he had their full attention. He drew breath before continuing. "I will lead you to victory! Today you will see why they call me the Red Rage, my power is yours and nothing will stand in our way!"

"Yes sir!" all soldiers shouted.

Iresso turned on his heel to face his men: "We leave in one hour, be ready!"

"Dismissed," said Badesh quietly and the soldiers dispersed in different direction to gather their gear.

"Well, you certainly know how to make a speech," Aygo grudgingly admitted.

"I learned from the best," said Badesh. Quinn would've approved of this speech.

Aygo gave him a data pad. "Here are the mission details, you should arrive in 20 hours at the outpost. Plenty of time to study the intel."

Badesh took the pad and nodded at Aygo. Aygo saluted him and left him and Thesh Squad to their preparations.

ooOOoo

"Sir? Do you have a moment?"

Badesh looked up from his holocomm and saw Lieutenant Iresso standing in front of him. He was sitting on one of the benches in the common room of the transport ship, there were other soldiers present but they kept their distance.

"Yes," answered Badesh and put his holocomm device down.

Iresso didn't sit down, he seemed more tense than before. "I wanted to come clean about something you should know."

Badesh just stared at him.

Iresso cleared his throat. "Well, I have quite a reputation of being an Imp hater. It's- it's personal and I-."

"I fail to see the problem," interrupted Badesh, "hatred is a very useful emotion and a great motivator." Badesh picked up the holocomm device, he assumed that the conversation was over.

"I- I don't understand. Don't you want a second in command who is more… neutral?"

Badesh shook his head. "No, your squad consists of Republic soldiers. I don't think that there are men or women in this squad who aren't biased against me. The Empire and the Republic have been at war for a very long time and it's only natural that you hate your enemy – otherwise most people wouldn't be able to kill their opponents."

Iresso seemed to think about his words. "Do you hate us?"

Badesh shook his head. "No, I don't."

He frowned. "I don't believe you."

"Hatred is something very personal, and I don't know you and your ilk. My hate is reserved for other people. To quote you – it's personal."

Iresso finally sat down. "You mean that you killed all these Republic soldiers without hate – but you are famous for your excessive slaughter!"

Badesh eyed Iresso and shortly mused whether he should indulge him. No. There was no merit in explaining himself to him.

"Perhaps you will understand after our mission," he simply said. "Dismissed Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir," replied Iresso and left him alone.

ooOOoo

The rest of the journey was uneventful, when they finally arrived at the outpost Badesh had become restless. He longed to feel the thrill of the battle once again; gone was his weariness. The outpost was well guarded, mostly by skytroopers by the looks of it. Two turrets were stationed at the only entrance and the barren land of the small moon didn't provide any cover.

"The intel was good. Their position is excellent," remarked Iresso as he scanned the vicinity with binoculars. "How do we proceed, sir?"

"Since this is the only entrance we have to make a frontal assault," said Badesh.

"Given the turrets we would suffer heavy causalities. I suggest a pincer movement and grenades-"

"I will take them out, tell the soldiers to get ready – as soon as I'm in trouble you attack and give me back-up," ordered Badesh. He faced a lot of automated guns and droids, perhaps he would even get seriously injured. His breath quickened and he grinned, it had been mere days since he defeated the Exarch but the old thrill had already lost its charm.

"What? You want to-" inquired Iresso, but he caught himself. "Yes sir!"

Badesh pulled his hood deeper in his face and stood up from the large rock they had been hiding behind. Then he began to slowly walk towards the outpost. As expected he was stopped by skytroopers about twenty meters before the entrance.

"Halt! What is your business here, stranger?"

Badesh registered that the skytroopers guns as well as the turrets were trained at him.

Vette would've had a witty comeback, but Badesh simply drew his lightsaber and cut the nearest standing skytrooper in half. For the next two minutes he deflected countless blaster bolt, crushed about twenty skytrooper to scrap and disabled the turrets by bending their barrels with the Force. When the dust finally settled the outer guards were down. An exquisite, sweet pain seared through Badesh's body as he started to feel the grazing shots on his arms and legs. His armour was battered but still functional.

Lieutenant Iresso and his soldiers approached him with care, but there were no skytroopers left.

"There may be stragglers inside, proceed with caution," remarked Badesh. "I will take the lead."

"Do you want to go alone, sir?" Iresso hesitantly asked.

"No, in confined space there is a high probability of an ambush. I need back-up with me. The rest of you will secure the area until we retreat." He pointed at two troopers with blaster rifles. "You two, with me. Specialist … Suki, you will stay close to me – you'll slice the command console while we'll give you back-up."

Without slowing down they rushed into the building.

ooOOoo

Back on the ship Badesh refused to let the squad medic have a look at him. He knew that he would've healed anyway until they arrived on Odessen. He wanted to feel his body a little longer, revel in the pain.

He enjoyed the newly sprung bitter respect that the soldiers showed towards him, sour fear was a tad more satisfying but in his situation he couldn't be choosy.

He sat half-dressed on a bunk, listening to the distant murmur of the squad members who were still on duty and to the soft snoring of the soldiers already sleeping. Badesh inspected his wounds, they were already closing. He caressed them with the tips of his fingers, he had won – a glorious and dangerous battle but he felt empty. Badesh pressed the nails of his index finger in a wound on his left arm. Even as he increased the pressure and blood started to run down his muscular forearm the void inside him didn't vanish like it used to.

There was something missing.

A quick glance on his chronometer asserted what he already knew: it was 10 o'clock in the evening, Dromund Kaas time. His heart ached as he recalled his lovers ritual to play chess at 10 o'clock. Badesh had never mastered the game, but he enjoyed watching Vette and Quinn play.

Vette would tease Quinn with puns, trying to throw him off his usual game. Quinn would protest and feign indignation, but he couldn't suppress a smile now and then. Badesh closed his eyes and saw them sitting in front of him.

Vette drinking her third cup of caf while sitting cross-legged on the chair, grinning at him.

'I will win this time – you just wait!'

Quinn sitting straight as always, the topmost button of his uniform open – the only concession he made to their 'work-free time' as he called it.

'You will do no such thing, Vette! You should focus on the game instead of getting a new cup of caf every seven minutes.'

Badesh imagined how he reached out, caressing Vette's cheek with the back of his hand, bending down and kissing her lekku. She would giggle, she always giggled when he did that.

Then he would reach over to Quinn and trail his stubby jaw with his thumb, placing a peck on Quinn's cheekbone. He would blush a little.

Badesh felt suddenly an iron grip around his chest. A metallic taste spread in his mouth… They weren't here. They weren't here and he needed them. Badesh forced himself to calm down. He would find them, they would be together again. He just needed to be patient. Theron would find them.


	8. New Command

Admiral Agyo was already waiting for them in the hangar. Badesh turned up his mouth; they had of course already transmitted a preliminary mission report. Aygo probably wanted to check on the well-being of his soldiers himself.

"Admiral, how good of you to welcome us," sneered Badesh as he strode down the loading ramp of the spaceship.

"Darth Tenebra," said Agyo calmly and nodded at him.

"Are you checking if they made it back in one piece despite being in a confined space with a Sith?"

"Actually I'm here to congratulate you on a successful mission," Agyo clasped his hands behind his back.

"Indeed?"

"I admit that I was sceptical, I knew that you were a capable warrior, but I didn't know if you could lead Republic troops."

Badesh crossed his arms and waited for Aygo to continue.

"Well, I'm not going to beat around the bush. You know that we're understaffed and I just heard that Master Raabat will have to take it slowly for a couple of weeks longer. I want you to take over Thesh squad."

Badesh shifted from one leg to another and crossed his arms. "I wasn't aware that Raabat was so badly off."

"He nearly died up there – according to Master Jetiet you saved his life. So, are you ready to become the squad leader?"

"I would be reporting to you?" asked Badesh with a frown.

"Of course, I'm the company commander. All squad leaders are under my command – be it Jedi or Sith."

Badesh considered his choices. He could of course refuse. He had been a powerful Dark Council member – to think that he would have to answer to a simple Republic Admiral … it was humiliating.

No … Pride wasn't important as long he had his dignity. And given his current situation it was unlikely that he would get anything else but missions that required a battle-hardened Force-user.

"Very well," he finally said.

Aygo's eyes widened a little, it seemed that he hadn't expected that Badesh would take him up on his offer. "Hm, good. Thesh squad is scheduled to meet up at 0700 hours – hangar 11. I'll join you and announce your new posting."

"Agreed. When can I expect detailed personnel files?"

Aygo nodded. "I'll see to it that you get them right away."

ooOOoo

After dinner Badesh decided to have a drink in the cantina. He wasn't in a social mood, but at the same time he found his quiet quarters unnerving.

He read the files Aygo's orderly had transmitted: Thesh squad consisted of veterans and rather young soldiers who hadn't seen much battle yet. He frowned when he discovered that there were evaluations missing. But of course that was to be expected in an organisation like the Alliance – resistance groups weren't usually big on paperwork.

He read the files alphabetically and when he opened Felix Iressos file he briefly wondered if it would reveal the reasons for his hatred for Sith. Since it was 'personal' as Iresso had put it, he didn't count on it – but he still read it with great attention.

The first thing he registered was that Iresso's career had started out like any other soldier's but when he had become Lieutenant he was suddenly posted all over the galaxy. He never lasted longer than a few months on an assignment. But then he was assigned to a Jedi and stayed on this post for a couple of years – the Jedi was none other than Jetiet.

Badesh lowered his pad and scanned the cantina. Jetiet and Nadia were sitting at a table on the other end of the room. Jetiet seemed to explain something to her Padawan.

Curious, the galaxy was indeed a small place. He took a sip of his tea and continued reading.

At every posting he got excellent evaluations, he was regularly described as highly professional, competent in social and military matters and so on. And still he got transferred rather quickly, and wasn't promoted. Interestingly enough there were no indication who had requested the transfers.

Badesh read on and soon he discovered that Felix Iresso and another Republic soldier had been captured by Imperial forces on Althir right before his career became stagnant. According to Iresso's commanding officer that that time Iresso claimed that he didn't remember much from this incident:

'Lieutenant Iresso claims that he doesn't remember the last seven days of his captivity. The squad that freed him and Sergeant Milo found them together in a cell. Further investigation is recommended.'

He scrolled though the file but didn't find any more intel on the mentioned investigation. Badesh leaned back in his seat and gulped down the rest of the tea. They didn't trust him anymore – despite his excellent reports he was redeployed again and again because they thought that the Empire had gotten to him.

Was this the reason why he was an 'Imp hater'? The captivity had ruined his career after all. No, that was not it. Badesh knew hate and anger intimately; he didn't feel these emotions from Iresso when he was on mission with him. Strange.

He read again Jetiet's evaluation right before he joined the Alliance: 'LT Iresso is an exceptional officer. He was responsible for support for Operation Shield_055, JC_201, and MK-5_11. He was critical in these very successful missions and demonstrated a very high level of judgement in mission priorities. I urge HQ to promote him as soon as possible.'

Iresso still wasn't promoted and Badesh scoffed. It reminded him very much of Quinn's disgrace. Darth Baras was the one to finally promote Quinn – it seemed that Jedi hadn't the same pull in the Republic military.

Badesh exhaled and pulled up the next personnel file. About an half an hour later he put down the data pad and massaged his temples. Eight soldiers had excellent or at least good evaluations – one had substandard ratings.

He was positively surprised. He had assumed that at least two or three soldiers would have poor evaluations. The Alliance couldn't be choosy about the manpower and idealists weren't always the best soldiers. But he would manage – one way or the other.

ooOOoo

When Badesh entered hangar 11 at 06:55 the members of Thesh squad were already there; they were chatting and laughing. They spotted Badesh and the laughter died down, Felix Iresso stepped forward and saluted him.

"Darth Tenebra, I assume Admiral Aygo will be here any minute?"

Badesh nodded and reached out with the Force. He still couldn't feel hatred from Iresso, he was tense but that was all. "Yes, so you've already been informed?"

"Yes sir, Admiral Aygo told me in evening."

In this moment Aygo joined them. Iresso saluted him as well and the admiral returned the salute. Thesh squad stepped in formation and Aygo cleared his throat.

"At ease! Master Raabat is still in recovery. Darth Tenebra has agreed to assume command of Thesh squad. Seeing that you've already had your first successful mission together I expect you excel!" He turned to face Badesh and saluted him.

Badesh frowned a little but didn't return the salute, instead he lowered his head slightly as if he were to bow. He stepped in front of his squad. "I've read your files – some of them were incomplete so I want to run a few drills with you in order to evaluate you myself. Lieutenant?"

Iresso stood at attention. "Sir?"

"We'll start with simple target practice, after that I want to assess house-to-house fighting."

"Yes sir."

ooOOoo

Badesh let Iresso take charge and observed the soldiers silently from distance. The files seemed to have been accurate he thought as he watched them split up in two teams for the house-to-house combat training.

He took note that Private Mukyeer, a skinny Mirialan, was very quiet while his teammates whispered about which tactic they wanted to use. Mukyeer's shooting had been adequate but he clearly wasn't as good as the others. Badesh assumed that it was because he was the medic. Still … he had to rely on him during battle.

Team Blue began slowly to move through the training ruins, they were quiet and focussed.

Badesh checked Team Red on his monitor, they were equally focussed.

He turned his attention again on Team Blue and saw that they had stretched out, Mukyeer had fallen back behind his team and quickly ran to catch up to them. Badesh frowned when he heard his loud footsteps.

Team Red had of course heard it too. They quickly moved to set an ambush and a couple of minutes later Team Blue had been taken out.

Felix Iresso was standing next to Badesh and exhaled. "Another round?"

"No, gather them."

Minutes later Thesh squad stood before Badesh and Iresso.

"Your performance was good. I will run more drills tomorrow – I need to assess your skills further. Expect some hand-to-hand combat training against me."

Some of the soldiers shifted uncomfortably.

Badesh crossed his arms. "Speak freely."

A green-skinned Nautolan cleared his throat. "Sir, hand-to-hand combat against you … we won't stand a chance. Shouldn't we train long-range combat?"

"As ground pounders you will most likely fight Zakuulan Knights at one point. Force-users are mostly close combat fighters. And they can deflect blaster bolts with their weapons – at least if they're not distracted. Further questions?"

Nobody spoke up and Badesh said: "Private Mukyeer stays, the rest of you are dismissed."

The soldiers looked uneasy and glanced from Badesh to Mukyeer before they slowly walked away.

Badesh waited until the other soldiers and Iresso were out of earshot. "Private, do you know why I asked you to stay behind?"

Mukyeer gulped. "W-well … sir, I guess it's because of my performance."

"A squad is only as good as their weakest link – you're the weak link, Private."

"Yes sir," said Mukyeer in a quiet voice.

"You're not going to dispute it?" asked Badesh.

He nervously licked his lips. "I-It's true isn't it? I'm not as good as the others."

"And what do you intent to do about it?"

"Sir?"

"You're the only medic in this squad. You have to improve, you _will_ improve."

Mukyeer gulped again. "Or what?"

"Or someday you'll responsible for an unsuccessful mission," said Badesh. Vette would point out that his siblings-in-arms were also in peril. "Your squad mates depend on you."

"I know, but there is so much I suck at."

Badesh frowned, should he just ask Aygo for a transfer? What would Quinn do? He would determine if the soldier could improve and go about this very methodically. "First, you need to improve your aim. I'll tell Iresso to give you additional training twice a day. After that we'll focus on your tactical skills."

Mukyeer blinked in surprise. "Sir?"

"Is something unclear, Private?"

"No, sir. It's just not what I expected."

"I know," Badesh said. "Dismissed."


	9. The Return of the Jedi

About two months later Badesh's once burning hopes had been diminished to a small flicker. He had taken on every mission with Thesh squad that was available, and while he had earned quite a strong reputation as one of the most successful and powerful Force-users in the Alliance he had to struggle in morning to get up.

Everything seemed pointless, another battle won, another knight slain. He simply had stopped caring. Of course he still got excited to feel blood on his hands, but these thrills lacked the sustainability from the days back in the Empire.

Barriss was true to her word – she tried to cheer him up. Sometimes she invited him in the cantina with her friends; but they turned out to be rather awkward outings. Badesh tried to interact with Barriss, but often he just sat there in silence.

Theron also seemed to register the changes in him and one day he invited him to have a drink.

"Congratulations on another successful mission," exclaimed Theron as he sat down across from Badesh. He put his beer on the small table in front of him and leaned back on the chair. "Things are really looking up for our Alliance."

"Yes." Badesh put a tea bag in his tea cup. He watched as the bag soaked up and sank to the bottom of the cup.

"C'on, let's have a real drink – what about a glass of Corellian whiskey?" asked Theron with a grin.

Badesh shot him a confused look. Why was Theron so upbeat? Yes, they were making progress against the Eternal Empire, but all this smiling and grinning seemed strange.

"No, thank you."

An awkward silence stretched out. Badesh watched as the hot water turned brown, then he finally looked up.

"You wanted to talk?"

Theron took a sip of his beer. "You are quieter than usual." He put the bottle down and began to scrape the label away. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine."

"I know it's hard-" began Theron, but Badesh interrupted him in a low voice.

"You know nothing!" Badesh felt the urge to break something, but he restrained himself.

"Okay… why don't you tell me?"

Badesh frowned angrily at Theron. Vette and Quinn were still missing, he still didn't know what had happened to them! He wanted to touch them. He wanted to be touched by them. His anger faded away, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe as if something laced up his throat. His gaze fell on Theron's hands casually holding the beer bottle. Badesh wanted to grab his hand, feel his warmth, tell him that he had become weak, weak without them. Badesh wanted to yell 'I'm lost', but in the end he lacked the energy. He averted his gaze.

"It's alright. I know you are looking for them," Badesh calmly said. "The galaxy is a vast place."

"As soon as we find anything we will let you know." Theron suddenly seemed sad, Badesh wasn't sure why he got that impression. He reached out with the Force. Yes, Theron's mood was underlined by bland unhappiness.

Badesh pulled the tea bag out of the water and put it on a small saucer next to him. It was clear that Theron had something on his heart. He waited for him to talk on his own.

Theron continued to scratch the label from the bottle, after a few moments he said quietly: "Would you return to the Empire if you could?"

Badesh first impulse was to answer in the affirmative, but he realised that that would have been untruthful. "Perhaps, but I'm not sure that it's my Empire anymore – we would've never bowed to the likes of Arcann even if it meant our demise."

"You can't be serious," interjected Theron, "without the truce billions of people would've died. And dead people can't fight another day."

Badesh blinked. Theron was right of course, why had he even said it? It made no sense.

"Why do ask? Are you afraid that I will leave your alliance?"

Theron looked him straight in the eyes, but then he averted his gaze. "Honestly? I don't know… I just wanted to talk to you."

Vette would probably ask Theron how he was doing, mused Badesh. He cleared his throat. "How are _you_ holding up?"

"I gotta admit that I'm a little surprised that you would ask," replied Theron. "Empathy was never your thing."

What would Vette do now? Before he could make his mind up, Theron continued.

"Most of the time I'm alright, there is too much to do to and my- my… well, I'm fine."

"So we're both fine."

Theron smiled sadly. "Yeah."

ooOOoo

A couple of days later Badesh was called by Aygo to a meeting in the war room. When he entered he registered that the strongest Force-users were present. Theron was quietly talking to a hooded figure in the back of the room.

Badesh frowned and tried to reach out with the Force, but before he could get a hold of their signature Theron stepped to the large holotable in the middle of the room.

"May I please have your attention?"

The quiet chatter among the Jedi and Sith became silent.

"A unique opportunity has presented itself – according to our most trusted source in Zakuul Vaylin is about to embark to a journey to the Outer Rim Territories – the Chorlian sector to be precise," said Theron. "It is said that her goal is to become more powerful, we can only assume that she intends to perform a Force ritual of some sort."

He activated the holo and the Chorlian sector was projected on the table.

"Vaylin is said to be more powerful than Arcann, if we manage to take her out he would be considerably weakened." Theron gestured towards the hooded figure. "We got only one shot at that, that's why I have gathered the most powerful in the Force here."

Badesh inhaled sharply when the mysterious figure lowered their hood. An middle-aged woman with grey streaks in her brown hair revealed herself: It was Satele Shan, former Grand Master of the Jedi Order and Theron's mother.

Judging from the gasps and the whispers among the Force sensitives they were equally surprised.

"I know that you are surprised that I finally chose to reveal myself," said Shan. "After our staggering defeat in the war with the Eternal Empire I went into exile and I vowed to atone for my mistakes. But your commander has convinced me to return … despite his decision on Iokath."

Theron cleared his throat and deactivated the holo. "We will gather more intel to pinpoint the final destination of Vaylin's journey. We will move in small teams, gather a small squad of your best men and women and be ready to depart tomorrow at 06:00. Dismissed."

Several Jedi immediately gathered around Shan and were obviously eager to talk to her. Badesh turned up his mouth, he had only spoken shortly with her several years ago, but he had never forgotten her insulting arrogance towards him.

Lana stepped next to him and clasped her hands behind her back. "This doesn't sit well with me either, Darth Tenebra. But there is no denying that Grand Master Shan is powerful."

"Oh she is strong in the Force," Badesh growled, "and that makes it even harder to understand why she left. What kind of leader deserts her troops after a defeat? And to what decision was she referring to?"

"The Empire and the Republic battled over a planet called Iokath – or rather its advanced technology. The Alliance had a claim as well, Supreme Commander Malcom and Empress Acina both asked for our support. It was a hard call for Theron, but in the end he agreed to help Acina – she had supported us in the past against Arcann."

"The Republic hasn't?"

"They didn't dare to defy Arcann. The Empire did."

"I see." Badesh said.

Shan was still talking to the Jedi, smiling and nodding. He had a bad feeling about her.

"You have met her before, haven't you?" asked Lana.

Badesh glanced at her. "You know the answer."

She shifted from one leg to another. "I do. It's just- I wanted to hear it from you. You were with Theron at that time, right? What did she say to you?"

Why did she want to hear it from him? Strange. He decided to answer her. "She called Theron. When she realised that he had worked with us to stop the Revanites," Badesh paused shortly – images of Quinn and Vette made his heart ache, "well, Theron argued that he had done it for the greater good. But she maintained that nothing good could come from the Dark Side. And when she realised that Theron knew me more intimately she called me tainted, twisted and dangerous."

"I see." Lana bit her lips.

Badesh suddenly realised that Lana was worried about her relationship with Theron. He cleared his throat. "They are not close, in fact I think Theron resents her."

Lana smiled at him, it was such a rare thing that Badesh almost didn't believe his eyes. "Thank you. I know- it's … I really care about Theron."

"I remember when they taught us about the Sith Code back in the academy. 'Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through Passion I gain Strength' and so on. It's an ancient mantra, but it's true, isn't it?"

Lana nodded. "It is, but sometimes passion weakens us, makes us vulnerable."

"Everything that strengthens us is double-edged. I'm certain Vaylin knows that too. They have to be desperate to perform some obscure ritual to make her stronger."

"I agree. If you will excuse me, I need to talk to my troops," said Lana and left.

Badesh watched the Jedi surrounding Shan for a while longer before he headed in the hangar where Thesh Squad was training.

ooOOoo

Lieutenant Iresso gave Badesh a brief salute as soon as he had spotted him. Despite all their mission together Badesh was always a little taken aback by the Republic style salute – it lacked the grace of a bow.

"Sir?"

"A new mission, Lieutenant. We will leave in two hours for the Chorlian sector. It's a critical mission; small team only."

"Yes sir. What kind of mission? Recon?"

"Search and destroy, I would like you, Suki and Mukyeer to prepare-" a shift in the force made Badesh turn on his heel. He narrowed his eyes as he saw Satele Shan enter the hangar. The soldiers interrupted their training and stared at her.

She approached Iresso and Badesh.

"Greetings."

Iresso snapped at attention. "Grand Master Shan! It's an honour!"

Badesh remained silent.

"I was told that your squad is excellent, Lieutenant," she said in a friendly tone. "I hoped that you would allow me to commandeer soldiers from this unit for this mission, Darth Tenebra."

It was quite clear that it wasn't a request – the decision had already been made. Badesh glared at her for a moment before he answered: "Of course, Grand Master."

"Very good. Lieutenant, I need a scout, a demolition expert and a medic."

Iresso cleared his throat. "Well, I would recommend Sargent Suki, Private Mukyeer and myself, but Darth Tenebra has already requested us."

Shan nodded. "Don't worry, I'm sure Darth Tenebra can find adequate soldiers in Cresh Squad, right? I'm certain you're familiar with them as well – it's an Imperial squad after all."

Her tone was still friendly, but there was an edge to it.

"I see, you don't want Imperials in your back," growled Badesh.

She stayed perfectly calm. "I've worked mostly with Republic troops in the past. I know how they function and I'm familiar with their priorities. It's simply efficient to request Thesh Squad."

Badesh drew breath to disagree, but suddenly he realised that all eyes were on him. The soldiers had gathered around them, watching … staring … Shan was right; they were probably looking forward to work with a Jedi again. Only now he realised that he had begun to think of them as _his_ squad. It was silly.

He snorted. "Of course." He glanced one final time at the squad before he turned and left.


	10. Lost Hope

Half an hour later he had collected his team – Captain Decale and Specialist Ridalle and his roommate Barriss Lorso. He had asked the commanding officer who she would recommend and without hesitation she had said these three names.

Badesh had simply nodded and the soldiers were summoned. As soon as they stood in front of him he began to pace back and forth.

"You will be my team in an important mission tomorrow. We will hunt down Vaylin in the Chorlian sector. Other Force-users will join us of course, it's possible that we'll need to adapt quickly based on the newest intel and the situation."

Badesh stopped. "Questions?"

Captain Decale stepped forward. "My lord, do you wish for additional training for tomorrow's mission?"

"I'm afraid we don't have the time, Captain. I want you rested in the morning."

"Yes my lord," said the three of them in unison.

"We will meet tomorrow at 05:50 in hangar 9. I will send you additional mission details via holo. Dismissed."

Barriss relaxed out of the parade rest and approached Badesh.

"I didn't think the day would come were we would go on a mission together," she said. "I thought you were with Thesh Squad."

"Grand Master Shan _requested_ Thesh Squad," replied Badesh and exhaled.

"Don't worry, we're at least as good as them."

"I never questioned your competence."

"Of course not – so, you up for dinner?" She smiled at him.

Badesh made an effort to smile back and nodded.

ooOOoo

The flight to the Chorlian sector was uneventful. Badesh used the time to relieve his pervious battles, he was uneasy – he had a bad feeling about this mission. His thoughts circled around Vette and Quinn, but he didn't know why. He did think a lot about them – but this felt different. And then there was Shan's distracting presence. Badesh could feel her through the Force, her signature was so powerful that it felt like she was touching him with her tillers. As if small roots were slipping through cracks of his being. Badesh shifted in his seat and tried to shrug the feeling off.

After a while he felt so uncomfortable that his eyes snapped open and he had to get up and rub his torso with his hands. Only then he saw that Nadia, Satele and Jetiet were meditating together; a soft glow was surrounding them.

Barriss stepped next to him, she was eating a protein bar. "They look so serene. Say, do Sith ever meditate together?"

Badesh just grunted.

"Ah, you're your usual moody self – why do I even ask?" She took another bite of the bar.

"So you're one of the Cresh guys?" asked Iresso and stepped next to them.

Barriss nodded gulped down the food. "I'm Sergeant Lorso."

"Lieutenant Iresso; I think we met at the firing range once."

"Right, let's hope your aim has improved since then," replied Barriss with a wink.

Felix laughed. "You sure are upbeat before a mission."

"Well, the gloomy part is already cared for by Badesh."

"Badesh? Is that one of your squad?" asked Felix a little confused.

"Uh, I mean Darth Tenebra of course."

"Badesh is my given name – Darth Tenebra is my Sith title," he said.

Felix shot Barriss a quizzical look but didn't say anything further on this subject. Instead he cleared his throat. "Sir, I wanted to inform you that we have fully implemented the roster rotations as you ordered last week. I expect our efficiency to improve even further in the next few weeks."

Badesh tilted his head and stared down at Felix. What was the meaning of this? Why would Iresso inform him about something so insignificant at a time like this?

"I see," he said. Quinn would recommend him for his diligence. "Very good, Lieutenant."

"Sir." Felix saluted and left.

ooOOoo

The Squad leaders were called to a meeting a couple of hours later. Theron Shan greeted them and announced the destination of Vaylins journey: a planet called Nathema.

The name sounded very familiar, but Badesh couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

"There is little intel about the planet," said Theron, "it's a barren planet, but according to the Republic archives it used to be a fertile world once. It's rumoured to have been the late Sith Emperors home world."

Badesh know recalled why he knew the name. "Commander, if I may."

All the Force users stared at him. Theron smiled and nodded.

"During my tenure as head of Sith intelligence I heard about Medriaas – or Nathema as it is called now. According to the myth of Vitiates ascension he accepted the sacrifice of Medriaas' inhabitant to gain immortality. It is said that he absorbed the planet's Force, thus rendering it lifeless."

Theron frowned. "But why would Vaylin want to visit a lifeless planet to increase her power?"

"If the myth is true Vitiate must have used some relic or ritual. Perhaps Vaylin is trying to recover the means to gain immortality herself," said Satele Shan. "A disturbing thought."

"But then why isn't Arcann accompanying her? He is the Emperor, wouldn't he want to become immortal?" asked Nadia.

"Perhaps they are in disagreement?" suggested Jetiet.

"We can agree that we still don't know what Vaylin wants on the planet," concluded Theron, "but we know that we have to take her out. This is a golden opportunity and we absolutely have to grab it."

Badesh mused on Theron words when he again felt like something was slipping under his skin, he rubbed his arms and focussed at the task at hand. It was so irritating that he became angry, he didn't miss that the sudden spike in his power caught the attention of the Jedi but he didn't care.

ooOOoo

As soon as he stepped on the dusty surface of Nathema Badesh felt nauseous. The Force had been ripped apart, its absence was a sensation that almost caused him physical pain. His senses were dulled and he felt like his strength was being drained from him.

A glance at the Jedi next to him revealed that they were affected too. Most of them seemed pale and grimaced in pain. Even Satele looked stressed. Badesh was glad that he was wearing his mask – there was no need for the others to see that he had to grit his teeth in an attempt to appear unfazed.

Theron displayed a holo map of the surrounding and pointed on a structure in the north. "This seems to be the only intact building in this area, our sensors indicated that Vaylin's shuttle landed there – so we will split up and approach it from different directions. We will keep comm silence until one of us finds traces of Vaylin."

Badesh and his team headed west in order to approach the target from their assigned direction. He took point, Barriss, Captain Decale and Specialist Ridalle followed him closely with their weapons drawn. Soon they were all panting, it seemed that even non-Force sensitives were affected by the absence of the living Force. Badesh was determined to move on, but upon realising that his team was in need of a break he knew that Vette would have insisted on giving them a couple of minutes to catch their breath.

"We will rest at the ruin over there," he ordered. "Stay vigilant – my senses are dulled. I possibly won't be able to sense if someone approaches us."

"Yes my lord," replied Decale and for a moment he sounded exactly like Quinn.

Badesh blinked a few times and shook the odd feeling off. He suddenly felt so poignant and desperate that he almost stopped in his tracks, but he forced himself to walk the short distance to the ruin. Nathema was poison to his body and mind – they had to leave as soon as possible.

They all sat down for a moment, Badesh removed his mask and too a gulp of water from Barriss' canteen. The cool liquid cleared up his mind. After a few moments they got up again and marched towards the structure.

About half an hour later they stood before the building, Barriss scanned it to find a door while Decale and Ridalle secured the perimeter. Suddenly Badesh's holocomm came to live and Jetiet whispered on an audio only channel: "Vaylin is in a chamber – coordinates are attached. I'll wait for back-up before I engage her. I assume she can't sense us."

Badesh cursed under his breath. Jetiet hadn't mentioned if Vaylin was alone – he couldn't believe that she wouldn't at least bring a few of her elite Horizon Guards with her.

"I can unlock this door," said Barriss and kneeled down next to a rusty blastdoor. "The code is ancient and should be no problem for – ah, it's unlocked."

Badesh pushed against it. The door opened with an ear deafening squeak and revealed a dark corridor. Ridalle activated a couple of flashlight droids which floated around them, providing minimal sight.

"Private, activate your scanner and set it to detect life forms," said Badesh.

"Right away my lord," whispered Ridalle and holstered his weapon. He activated his wrist holo and began to monitor the life signs.

After a few minutes they stood before a lift. Badesh force the sliding doors open with sheer physical strength and looked down the shaft: it was almost pitch black, only about twenty meters down there was a tiny ray of light falling through the cracks of the lift doors.

"Vaylin and her people are down there," he whispered. "Ridalle will stand guard up her and cover our retreat – I suggest you prepare to blow the corridor up in case that we need to bury her down there. If we have to leave on another route you'll hide by the ruins where we rested. We will pick you up from there."

The soldiers nodded and Barriss activated an automatic rope and attached it on the floor right outside the lift. Badesh grabbed the rope and lowered himself slowly until he had reached the level with the lights. He focussed and reached out through the Force, he had a very weak connection, but he was still able to determine that there was nobody right outside the doors. Badesh gritted his teeth and used the pain and his frustration to push the sliding doors open with the Force. Then he used his feet to push away from the wall and landed on the floor right outside the lift shaft.

After a quick look around he gestured Barriss and Decale to come down to him; the corridor was dimly lit by stationary flashlight droids. It was vexing – Vaylin had to be nearby but he simply couldn't feel her.

As soon as the soldiers had joined him, they cautiously crept down the corridor. At the edges of his mind Badesh felt something, it was eluding his gasp, but he could feel it; was it Vaylin's presence? Before he could make head or tails of it a piercing scream rang through the air.

The next thing he heard was blaster fire and more screaming, Badesh ignited his lightsaber and ran towards the noise. When he reached an open door that seemed to lead to the chamber where Vaylin was in, he stopped and peeked around the corner.

Vaylin and two of her guards were standing in the middle of a room with large relics surrounding them. The body of a Jedi – Badesh couldn't see who it was – lay at her feet. Soldiers were hiding behind the relics, firing upon the Force users in the middle of the room. Satele Shan and Jetiet were also hiding – whispering with each other.

Badesh pulled back and faced Barriss and Decale. "We have been discovered, I will attack after Shan and Jetiet have made their move. Cover me and focus your fire on the two Horizon Guards on the right and left of Vaylin."

The soldiers nodded and Badesh closed his eyes, reached deep down inside him, pulled forcefully at the Force and bend it to obey him. He was weak yes, but Vaylin was weak too. He had to rely on his physical battle prowess and his reflexes rather than the Force.

"And when I go down, you use your grenades to confuse Vaylin and take her down with single precise shots. This place takes a heavy toll out of Force users."

" _If_ you go down, right?" replied Barriss with a frown.

Badesh didn't reply and readied himself to join the fray. He peeked around the corner one more time and saw how Satele, Jetiet and another Jedi lunged at their opponents.

He realised as he watched how Vaylin parried the blows that she was perhaps the most powerful individual he had ever seen. Her movements were fluent, even effortless despite the surroundings. Badesh got excited and his breath quickened.

He grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber harder and rushed towards the battle, he didn't jump, he rather used the relics to hide his approach and laughed when he impaled one of the Horizon Guards just when she was about to strike at Shan. Gone was his weariness and the sick feeling, he revelled in the gargling sound his opponent made when she drew her last ragged breath.

From the corner of his eye he saw how Jetiet was pushed back by the other Horizon Guard, while Shan elegantly blocked Vaylin's blade with her double bladed lightsaber. She could hold her own, they had to take out the other Horizon Guard first.

Before he could make any move he was hit by Vaylin with the butt of her weapon, causing him to stumble back. Out of reflex he lifted his hand and tried to Force-choke her, but the Force was too weak and nothing happened. Anger flared up in his chest and he jumped back on his feet, attacking the remaining Horizon Guard. He struck him with the back of his hand and punched him so forcefully in the mask that it cracked. Pain shot through his arm, but Badesh kept punching him until Jetiet killed the Guard with a swift strike of her lightsaber.

Vaylin suddenly gathered a vast amount of energy around her and released it so that everything surrounding her was pushed away. Badesh flew against the wall and felt a sharp pain in his back; when he fell down he landed on his injured hand and he groaned. Shan was right beside him and struggled to get on her feet.

"We will attack together – we have to take her down!" she screamed.

Badesh simply growled and together they lunged again at Vaylin.

"I won't die here! I can't!" Vaylin shouted and parred both their lightsabers and shot lightning at them almost at the same time. Badesh screamed in pain as the lighting cursed through his body. Shan barely deflected it.

"You know it, don't you?" Shan screamed.

Badesh coughed blood in his mask and glanced confused at her. What the-

"They are dead, Vette and Quinn are both dead!" yelled Shan.

He felt the realisation seep through his consciousness. Dead … yes they were dead.

"She killed them!" screamed Satele on the top of her lungs. "Avenge them! There is no reason to hold back anymore!"

Badesh couldn't breathe, couldn't think, he only saw the mental images of Vette and Quinn before his inner eye. Vette who looked over her shoulder at him as she showed him her newest bit of programming, Quinn who smiled sleepily at him in the morning. Vette laughing, Quinn glaring … the images mixed up and became blurred. They were gone! He would never find them! Never would he touch them again!

It was pointless! Everything was pointless! They were dead! All strength drained from Badesh, he barely felt how he let go of his lightsaber, suddenly he was on his knees, tears were streaming from his eyes. He buried his face in his hands. All noise was muffled. He had lost them! He barely registered that somebody pulled at him, shook him and removed his mask.

For a short moment his blurred vision cleared up and he saw Felix Iresso's face close to his.

"Vette and Quinn are dead, Felix! I couldn't save them!"

"You have to get up again!" yelled Felix. "We are losing! Satele is losing!"

Suddenly Jetiet appeared next to Felix, she was bleeding from various cuts. She grabbed him by his robe and said very quietly: "You can still avenge them, it was her who killed them. Vaylin killed Vette and Quinn."

Slowly a new realisation sunk in, yes – it had been Vaylin. She was responsible that he could never feel them again. The tears stopped and Badesh blinked, wiping over his eyes. He would avenge them, he would kill Vaylin, make her pay, maim her, torture her as she had tortured him!

He slammed his fist on the ground, and screamed in anger. Badesh pulled together all the Force he could muster, he relentlessly pulled everything he had from every last fibre in his body. The searing pain that it cause fuelled his rage even more. He roughly pushed Felix away and stumbled on his feet, Jetiet handed him his lightsaber and struggled to get up too.

Badesh narrowed his eyes and set his sight on his target: Vaylin was still fighting with Shan, but the Jedi was visibly weakened while Zakuulan crackled with wild laughter. Nothing mattered anymore, the only love he had felt in his live had been taken from him. He would grind Vaylin into dust!

With a mighty leap he jumped at Vaylin and Shan, who was in his way. With a rough punch he sent Shan on the ground and attacked Vaylin. He had so much power in his swing against Vaylin's lightsaber that she buckled under the strike and fell on one knee. Badesh screamed and hit her lightsaber again. The cocky look on her face disappeared and she furrowed her brow in anger.

Vaylin pushed back and shot lighting at him, Badesh's muscles hurt and almost seemed to melt off his bones, but he couldn't stop. He wouldn't stop. Even when she stabbed him in his right leg he didn't yield. Everything became a blur, they parred, attacked and hit each other. They brawled until Badesh grabbed her jaw and started to squeeze with all his might. Vaylin screamed in pain and impaled him on her weapon. Badesh felt the blood flowing out of him, his strength waned a little. He let go of his lightsaber and pushed his hand into her open mouth. With one hand on her jaw and the other upper jaw he ripped her skull apart with a primal scream.

He didn't stop, he couldn't stop and so he used Vaylins ripped off jaw to stab her into her chest, again and again until he grew tired. The last thing he remembered was the burning pain all over his body. Then the darkness claimed him.


	11. Betrayal

The first sensation Badesh felt was weightlessness. He felt light and warm, comfortable even. He was tired so very tired, but when he heard voices he forced himself to open his eyes. He saw a familiar figure standing in front of him. Light blue liquid swirled around him, making it difficult to recognise his face … he knew him. He just couldn't remember his name.

"Sir, I wanted to debrief you of our latest mission in the Endless Swamp. Everything went smoothly, there was only one injured-"

"Lieutenant, I fail to understand why you bother to give the Sith reports," said a female voice.

"Doctor Oggurobb said that it's possible that he registers if someone visits him. Sergeant Lorso usually talks with him about personal stuff. I- I don't know what else to say to him."

He saw a light skinned female human standing next to the man. Dimly he remembered her too.

"You shouldn't involve yourself with him at all. I have seen his mind. He is a Sith, full of anger and destruction. A blunt weapon that lacks empathy and conviction. He doesn't deserve your loyalty."

The man took a step back from the woman. "With all due respect, Master Shan! I have served with this man, I don't need to read his mind to know him!"

"He's like a perforated cloth, Lieutenant. Where other people have true emotions he has to rely on other people to patch up his ragged personality. His care for his troops, his entire being – it's all just patch-work made from memories of his lovers. It's not real, none of it is. He is not a real person."

"I don't think-"

"That's what the Dark Side does, it leaves only empty husks. You should know that, you've fallen victim to Sith, haven't you?"

"Well, yes but-"

"There is no 'but' Lieutenant," replied the woman with gravitas.

The man was silent for a moment, then he cleared his throat. "If you'll excuse me, Master Shan. I have a report to deliver."

Badesh tried to listen some more, to remember who these people were but his weariness overwhelmed him and he fell asleep again.

ooOOoo

The next time Badesh woke up, his mind was much clearer. He vaguely remembered that he had heard voices … had it been a dream? He opened his eyes again and saw a hutt standing in front of him. He wasn't the in liquid- the kolto tank anymore.

"Greetings, Darth Tenebra. I'm relieved to see you awake – due to your extensive injuries we weren't certain that-"

"We knew that you would pull through," said someone beside the hutt.

Badesh squinted, the man standing there it- it was Theron. Slowly he remembered where he was: he was on Odessen. The hutt was Dr. Oggurobb. A moment later another realisation hit him – Vette and Quinn. The pain in his chest made him flinch and a muted sob escaped his lips.

"He's getting worked up," said Oggurobb, "I'll put him back to sleep."

Within minutes Badesh lost consciousness.

ooOOoo

When he finally woke up again, he felt strange, heavy and cold. He lifted his right hand to wipe across this face, but he stopped in the middle of the movement when he saw that it wasn't his right hand that he was moving – instead it was a metallic prosthesis. He stared at it with disbelieve. Then he slowly folded back the sheet that was covering his lower half. His left leg had also been replaced with an artificial limb. It almost took his breath away, and with silent dread he reached up to his face with his left hand, when his fingertips touched scar tissue he let his hand fall back on the duvet.

"You're awake already?"

He looked up and saw Barriss standing in the doorway. She quickly approached him and sat down on the chair next to his bed.

"Dr. Oggurobb said it would take another hour or so. I'm sorry that were alone when you woke up – we've been visiting you, you know?"

Badesh just stared at her, trying to pull himself together. He had to be strong, had to- before he could stop himself tears welled up in his eyes. Vette and Quinn … were gone. They were dead and he was still alive.

"Hey, you survived and-" began Barris, but he interrupted her.

"You don't understand, I just kept going because I needed to see them again," he whispered.

Barriss took his left hand and squeezed it. "You listen to me – they lied to you. We still haven't found Vette and Quinn. They could be alive!"

"What?" How was that possible? Yes … he had simply believed that Vette and Quinn were dead despite the fact that he didn't have any prove. But he _knew_ that- then he suddenly remembered the weird feeling as if something had slithered under his skin.

He clenched his right hand to a fist and a nearby monitor suddenly splintered.

"She's gone – Satele Shan left days ago," said Barriss.

As suddenly as the anger had overwhelmed him, it tickled away. A new thought entered Badesh's mind: there was still hope. Perhaps- perhaps he could still find them! And he would most certainly find Shan – she had used him, manipulated him and had mocked the memory of the people he values above anything else!

In this moment Theron entered the room, he blanched as he set his eyes on Badesh's face.

"Badesh I-"

He lifted his right hand and Theron reached up to his throat and gasped.

"Was it your idea?" he growled.

"No," replied Theron in a raspy voice.

Badesh snorted and let go of him. "I don't believe you – she knew my weakness. She couldn't possibly found out herself in the short time that she was with us."

Theron rubbed his throat. "We talked about the best people for the mission, she questioned your commitment and I told her why you agreed to help us. I didn't know that she was going to manipulate you. After you came back from the mission I told her to leave."

"You let her get away!" screamed Badesh.

"She did what she had to do to get the job done! Did I like it? No! But we're past the luxury of morals! You know that! All that matters is that Vaylin is dead!"

Badesh let Theron's words sink in. He took a deep breath. "You're right, you have clear priorities – you never lied about them. I was naïve to think that you're interested in helping me. Just tell me, were you even looking for Quinn and Vette?"

Theron suddenly looked hurt, he gulped. "Of course we're trying to find them. We took the down the Revanites together, I haven't forgotten about that."

"I wish I could believe you, Theron. But I don't – I had nothing when I arrived here, nothing except my reputation. And now I don't even have that."

Barriss let go of his hand, Badesh realised only now that she had still been holding it. "Of course you've still got your reputation. You're the one who took down Vaylin."

"Don't cuddle me – they all saw me break down. The only respect I commanded was out of fear and intimidation, and it only works if one is regarded as invincible." Badesh sat up and felt a little dizzy.

It passed and he stood up; at first he was cautious about his artificial leg, but once he took a few steps he realised that it responded just like his real leg. Oggurobb was indeed a genius.

"That's not true," said Theron, "you-"

"Save it!" snapped Badesh and walked over to the small cupboard. He opened it and found, as expected, his torn robes and his battered mask in it. A glance in the small mirror at the door confirmed what he already knew: parts of his face were covered in ugly scars.

He didn't mind Theron's and Barriss' presence when he dressed himself. After he had put on his mask he turned.

"I will return to my quarters and pack. I wish to leave as soon as possible."

"Badesh …" Theron began but one look from Badesh silenced him.

Badesh stormed out of the med bay and almost ran over Felix Iresso.

"Sir!" He snapped at attention and gave him his weird Republic salute.

Badesh was put off his stride and stopped. "Lieutenant Iresso."

Felix eased into normal posture and smiled at him. "We're glad that you're doing better, sir. I was on my way to give you my report of our last mission."

"Report?" Badesh dimly remembered that he had heard Felix talking about reports.

"Yes sir, I wanted to keep you posted. You're our commanding officer after all."

Badesh was confused. What was the meaning of this? "Er, thank you for your concern … Felix."

"I have to tell the troops that you're up and about, if you will excuse me, sir," said Felix blithely and stormed away.

Badesh followed him with his eyes. He wasn't very good at detecting sarcasm, but it didn't seem as if Felix had been disingenuous. So he still was in command of Thesh squad?

He heard the door behind him slide open and Theron stepped out. "Was that Lieutenant Iresso?"

"Yes."

"He visited you on behalf of his squad," said Theron. "I don't know about your sith-y sense of honour and reputation. But in their book you're a hero."

Badesh looked down on his artificial hand. "I'm no hero. I let a Jedi manipulate me, I was weak. By the stars, I cried and almost gave up."

Barriss joined them and followed their conversation silently.

"You know that people get scared, that they tremble and freeze in a critical moment. It happens. Do you honestly think that they're weak just because they're sentient beings who have emotions?" asked Theron.

"It's different for me!" hissed Badesh. "I live for battle, I enjoy it!"

"But you're still a living being, you are not a droid."

Badesh mulled over what Theron had said. What this another attempt to manipulate him? Had Theron ordered Felix to visit him and give him reports? No, that was too far-fetched.

"Listen, I know that it was a kriffing shit-show," continued Theron, "but don't leave just yet. Wait for a couple of days, think about it. Oggurobb has still some fine-tuning to do."

Badesh sighed. There was indeed no need for a dramatic exit – and he really needed to reflect about his future plans.

"Come on, let's go to the cantina," said Barriss. "I bet you could use a stiff drink right now."

"Alright," said Badesh.

Theron didn't ask if he should tag along and they didn't ask. They simply turned and left.

ooOOoo

On his way to the cantina Badesh registered that his artificial leg was slightly off-balance. He frowned and focussed on his steps. When they finally stood in the doorway the usual cantina chatter fell silent.

Badesh was taken aback and scanned the room: the cantina was half-full with Alliance forces, they stared at him. From one second to another they suddenly erupted in jeers, lifting their glasses towards him and screamed "For the Alliance!".

"See, to them you're a hero," said Barriss.

A soldier brought Badesh a glass with something that looked like whiskey. He accepted it and lifted it up in the air. The crowd cheered once again before they calmed down and turned their attentions away from him.

Badesh and Barriss sat down in a booth. He removed his mask and took a sip of the beverage – it was indeed whiskey. It tasted good, almost as good as Corellian whiskey used to be. And in this moment Badesh felt content. He had vanquished a powerful enemy, hadn't lost the respect of this troops after all and there was still hope to find Vette and Quinn.

He sighed and leaned back, Barriss sat across from him, looking exhausted. Then it occurred to him that he hadn't asked her how she was doing.

"Shall I get you a drink?" asked Badesh.

She smiled. "I'm good, thank you."

"You look tired."

"Well, it was a stressful week – we cleaned up Nathema and plan to return to Iokath. The radiation is receding and the Commander wants us ready to go as soon as Oggurobb has determined that it's safe."

"Iokath? Where the Empire and the Republic clashed?"

"Yeah, about 18 month ago we fought there with crazy droids and the Zakuul – long story short: there was this huge explosion and we had to leave because of the radiation."

Badesh took another sip of his whiskey. "I see."

"There- there is another reason why I'm tired," Barriss said, she blushed a little. "I met this woman, ah- well and we're seeing each other."

Badesh nodded. "Passion is very important, it is a deep well of power."

"Thing is she's a Jedi and isn't supposed to be with anyone. Soooo there is little a bit of sneaking involved."

Badesh's eyebrow rose. "A Jedi? And here I thought they were all boring."

Barriss blushed again. "She's not boring at all, she- she's great. She has great humour and is so attentive. And she's cute. I really like her."

"Good."

Barris cleared her throat. "Good … good. Well, so I'm going to need our room tonight."

"What?"

"Well, as I already said; there is a lot of sneaking involved and it turned out the best place to meet is our room. 21:00 til 23:00 – I trust you have things to do?"

Badesh blinked and shifted in his seat. Vette would agree – he wasn't sure about Quinn. "Alright."

"Thanks!"


	12. Decision

Badesh was almost shoved out of the room at 20:55. He tried to read in the cantina for a bit, but he simply couldn't focus on his data pad. With a sigh he got up and started to walk through the underground base.

ooOOoo

Seeing all the troops going about their business gave him a twinge in his chest: He still felt like he should leave, but the Alliance needed him – he was only a weapon, but at least he had a purpose. And despite everything that had happened he didn't actually think that Theron had lied to him.

He reached the large military hangar in the northern part of the base. Admiral Aygo oversaw a troop exercise and made notes on is pad. Badesh stopped and watched the troops.

His mind started to wander. He still missed his lovers, he ached for their touch and something in him wanted to just jump in the nearest shuttle and go looking for them. But where would he start? Where would he go? His chances were better if he stayed with the Alliance – provided that they were really looking for Vette and Quinn.

Badesh leaned against a crate and crossed his arms. Of course he had been angry that he had been used by the Jedi, but all his talk about reputation started to feel hollow. Thesh squad – _his_ squad obviously still respected him; and even if some might snicker behind his back … every humiliation was worth it if he could just see Vette and Quinn once again, he reminded himself.

He noticed that Aygo glanced at him and beckoned him to come closer. He pushed himself away from the crate and joined Aygo on the stairs leading to his office.

"Darth Tenebra, might I invite you for a caf?"

Badesh nodded and they headed into the office. Aygo poured him a cup from a large steaming pot and put a small bowl with sweeteners on his desk. With a groan he sat down; Badesh quietly sat down across from him. He added sweeteners and nerf milk to his caf.

Aygo stirred his cup. "Back in the Republic we used to hand out medals to soldiers who were injured in the line of duty. I assume the Empire did the same thing?"

Badesh removed his mask and took a gulp of his caf. He noticed that Aygo stared at his scars. "Not to every soldier – only those who had shown valour or had exceeded expectations."

"Should we install proceedings in order to commend soldiers? Might be good for morale."

"A good idea, I suggest we add a financial incentive – and we should restrict the number of medals we hand out. Valour only."

Aygo grunted and they fell silent, each drinking their caf.

After a few moments Badesh cleared his throat.

"General Frellka fought well."

"What?"

"You told me that he had been your commanding officer. He fought well."

Aygo frowned. "I know. He was a good man." He licked his lips. "It's hard you know, working with Imperials."

"I understand," replied Badesh.

"And yet I feel the need to give them medals for their service. It fact they've deserved it."

Badesh realised that Aygo was talking about him.

"I wouldn't recommend giving Sith commendations. We don't work that way, some of them might even turn the medals down," said Badesh in a quiet voice.

"Why?" indignation was audible in Aygo's voice.

"To become Sith we had to reach for the stars, and that was only possible by ruthless ambition and on the back of others. I killed my sister with my own two hands – every medal and every commendations pales in light of my deeds."

Aygo sucked in his breath. "Y-you killed her?"

"Yes, I did." Badesh took a sip of his caf. "I loved her – a long time ago. But we were both Sith and we did what we had to do. We always do what we have to do."

Aygo put his cup back on his desk. "It's still monstrous."

"Waging war is always monstrous. As long there's a higher purpose it's worth it."

"The goal doesn't justify the means."

"It does – just ask Grand Master Shan. And isn't she the Republic's conscience?"

Badesh didn't expect an answer; he gulped down the last bit of caf and put the cup down. He grabbed his mask and put it back on.

When he looked again at Aygo; the admiral had a contemplative expression on his face.

"Thank you for the caf," said Badesh. "And I suggest to give Lieutenant Iresso a promotion."

Aygo simply nodded and Badesh left.

ooOOoo

His next stop was the lab: despite the late hour Dr. Oggurobb was still at work. When he discovered Badesh he boomed: "Darth Tenebra! How good of you to visit me! Are my latest calibrations working?"

"They do, thank you doctor."

Oggurobb slithered slowly towards Badesh. "Seeing your damaged mask and armour the other day I devoted my genius to design you a new set of battle gear."

Badesh blinked in surprise. He hadn't even thought about getting his mask replaced or fixed. But now that Oggurobb mentioned it … even before his fight with Vaylin his chestpiece had been slightly cracked.

"Good," Badesh only managed to say.

"It will be black and red – like all Sith armour. By the stars! Every Sith only ever wants dark colours – aesthetics I presume," droned Oggurobb. "But if you ask me it's not inspiring at all! Aesthetics are supposed to be an critical reflection on art, culture and eventually nature. Soft combination colours would make much more sense and be much more pleasing to the eye!"

Badesh remained silent and while Oggurobb continued with his speech he looked at the armour lying on the workbench: It was indeed dark metal with bright red lines. The stark contrast reminded him of blood, it would suit him.

"When will it be ready?" asked Badesh.

"Art can't be rushed!" exclaimed Oggurobb and threw his hands in the air. After a dramatic pause he quietly continued: "Two hours. You can pick it up tomorrow morning."

ooOOoo

It was almost 23:00 and Badesh decided to return again in the cantina. Perhaps he would meet Theron there? He had to tell him that he would stay.

The cantina was as busy as ever, Theron was nowhere to be seen; but Lana Beniko stood at the counter and was dipping a tea egg into a cup with steaming water. Badesh traversed the room and when he finally reached her, she turned around and gave him a surprisingly warm smile.

Badesh was taken aback, he had expected her to be as distant as usual. Was it the late hour the reason for her mellow mood?

"Tea always calms me down," she said and pulled a flask from her robes. Lana added a shot of the dark liquid which looked suspiciously like Zakuulan cognac into the cup.

"You seem quite relaxed, Lord Beniko."

"Well, things are looking good for the Alliance – thanks to you of course. And it's Lana."

"Uh Lana, is Theron around?"

"No, I guess he's still working on the Iokath plans." She toasted him and took a sip. "Is it about your decision to stay with the Alliance?"

Again he was taken aback. Was he so easy to read? "Hm, yes. I mused about the issue and decided to stay."

"I knew it."

"Indeed?"

"Of course, you're one of the most practical and intelligent Sith I've ever met. The Jedi insulted you, but you see the bigger picture."

Badesh scoffed. "I still hope that I will Satele Shan again – I wonder how long she would last against me."

Lana grinned at him; she seemed a little drunk. "You already know the answer to that question. She is a powerful Force user but she has a different skill set than you. She would be quite the challenge but there is a reason why she used you instead of fighting herself."

Badesh gave her a smile. Lana drank her tea and they both watched how a pair was kissing on the other side of the counter.

"We'll find them," said Lana quietly.

Badesh didn't reply, instead he averted his gaze.

ooOOoo

About an half an hour later he stepped into his room and froze when she saw how Barriss was changing his bed sheets.

"Uh," was all that Barriss managed to say.

Badesh stared at her until she blushed.

"Well, she wanted to do it a Sith's bed," she said with a weak smile.

"By the stars! That must be the kinkiest Jedi in the base!" Badesh said with a sigh.

"Possibly. Just give me a couple of minutes."

Badesh pulled the mask from his face and threw it on a chair next to his bed. Then he grabbed his toothbrush and headed into the small bathroom.


End file.
